The Third Time is a Charm
by lady.edgecombe
Summary: A child was born to return the pureblood ways of long ago, what would you do to save him? His inheritance stolen and his friends are traitors who can he turn to? A strange woman appears-friend or foe? Warn-language,child abuse, M/M AD/RW/HG bashing
1. Ending is Only the Beginning

I do not own any of the Harry Potter universe or any recognizable characters. I admire J.K. Rowling in her massive undertaking of the story. I merely like to play with her friends sometimes. I do not make any money from this story, it's just for fun.

Chapter 1: The Ending Is Only the Beginning

The young woman burst into the room where her great-grandfather sat in office with her eyes flashing their signature green sparks and long dark hair flying behind her as she stormed in, frustrated and angry. The old man looked amused at the actions of his young great-granddaughter, knowing that her passion for life and her sense of honor and fair play kept her in this state of agitation for most of her life thus far.

"Grandfather, do you see what they did? I have already gone back twice, TWICE and told that old fool not to leave the boy with those people and he did it anyway and now LOOK AT WHAT THEY ARE DOING!!! What's wrong with those people?! Why didn't they listen to me?"

"Calm down, sweetheart, I know what they did and yes we did try to correct it but people have the freewill to do as they want and we cannot take that away from them. The old coot thought he was doing what he needed for the greater good."

"He didn't do what was for the greater good, he did what was good for _his_ greater good, and he did it THREE TIMES!" The young woman slapped her hands against the desk emphasizing the last three words of her sentence. "I don't care what he thought. It was WRONG, just plain wrong! He was to be the greatest wizard at the time and HE WAS WRONG!" The young woman's face was flushed and indignant anger burned in her eyes. "It was just WRONG!" she repeated. Yes, the older man knew it was wrong, and sometimes he wanted to go back and kill someone, but that would not have done any good either. He would have been in Azkaban and everything could have taken even a worse turn.

It was true that the old coot had screwed up three times. After the first time his great grand-daughter went back to tell him not to do that again. He did it again. She went back a second time to talk not only to the old coot but also the mutt and the werewolf, again they did not listen to her. Now she was going to go back a third time. This was the last trip the time-magic would allow. You just couldn't put all of eternity on hold waiting for people to wake up and do the right thing. Now it was even worse, the old coot tried to mess with time himself and it was causing a breakdown of the other time lines in the dimension.

"Honey, you need to calm down. We just have to come up with a plan so you can go back and try to correct his error. But you know this will be the last time. Even with the ability to change this, we cannot keep time on hold forever."

"I know Grandfather." The young woman said. Okay, deep breath, in, out yes again. Her pounding heart started to slow down to its normal rate. She knew she had to calm down if she was to present her last chance to him and correct this mess once and for all. "I have a plan, but I want you to consider this very carefully before you refuse my request or say anything."

"Oh?" he said, with a pensive look on his face, wondering what outrageous thing she would ask for now. It was not uncommon for his favorite great granddaughter to come up with the most outlandish schemes, but they were always well thought out and usually worked. "When was the last time I didn't listen to you?"

"Yes, but this will really be the most complicated mission plan I have done so far."

"Then let's get your other great grandfather in here. That way you only have to go over it once."

She sat down in one of the chairs in front of his desk and waited as he used his two way mirror to call for the other man.

"Hey love, could you come here? Our young spitfire here wants to present her plan and we will have to make a decision soon so I thought you would want to listen too." His face had softened and his smile was so tender while speaking with his husband. Even after all these years, when they spoke or looked at each other you could see that they loved each other very much and always would. At one hundred and forty two, he still looked half as old and the spark in his eyes undiminished at he spoke to the man he had been married to for a hundred and six years. She often thought they kept each other young. They were true soul-mates. A rare thing to find someone so perfect for another but there had actually been seven soul-mated couples in her family.

While he was speaking with his mate, the young woman looked around the room. She loved this office in the manor. The smells from the old leather of the books and old parchment was intoxicating and would always remind her of family and love. Centuries of books and information gathered over the years. The desk in front of her was a family heirloom, over four hundred years old, passed down from her great grandfather's line. It was a wonderful mahogany desk six feet long, three feet deep, with a glossy shine in the wood from years of polishing by the house elves.

"He will be here in a minute. Would you like Cook Tippy to get you some tea? Maybe some of those scones you like so much?" He asked slyly, knowing what her answer would be. She just couldn't resist Cook Tippy's scones.

"You know I can't resist her scones. You always tempt me with my favorites when we need to have a serious discussion. Are you sure you are not trying to get on my good side, grandfather?" She looked at the man with a smirk on her face that reminded him of his old friends from long ago. The Malfoy family line had died out long ago from the war but he still remembered them.

"Cook Tippy!" the gentleman called. Immediately a house elf appeared, wearing the traditional uniform of the house with the family crest on the left side of her chest.

"Yes, Master. What can I get for you?" The house elf bowed slightly as she addressed the older man in the room respectfully.

"We would like some tea please, Cook Tippy, with some of those delicious scones you make for us."

"Right away, Master." And with that the little elf popped out of the room and on the desk suddenly appeared a tray with the requested refreshments.

"Maybe I thought, if I soften you up enough, you would give me a plan that would not give me a headache?" He said with a knowing smile as he handed her a cup of tea and a scone.

"Not a chance! Did you see what those people did to that child? He was only a child! I saw it through the time displacement mirror. They beat that child!"

"Alright, alright, don't get hysterical. We will look at your ideas and make a decision. You don't have much of a window to do this."

"I know, that's why we have to make sure this happens the right way. I really feel very strongly about this. This war has been going off and on for almost one hundred years. Too many people have been killed and our world is dying. We can't even keep up with the underground refugees and somehow our locations have been leaked more than a few times already. You know this can't go on and has gone on longer than it should have."

"You are serious about this, which tells me that you are taking your responsibilities sincerely. We will listen to what you have to say and IF it is a good plan we will back you up. You know that."

Just as she was about to say something else, her Great grand-dad walked into the room, his long strides quickly brought him to his mate (even with the slight limp) and he kissed the man sitting at the desk. As he was kissing his husband of many years, he Accio-ed a chair without using a wand or a word and sat next to him.

"Show off." The older man muttered when the kiss ended.

The young woman pulled out a journal with all of her plans laid out. It obviously took quite some time to come up with the plan as seen with the amount of detail written in the book. She handed it to her great grandfathers, knowing they would not like the idea at first, but also knowing that this would work in a way no other idea had. She had laid out the schematics of the time line with the other events from two other time lines in which she had briefly intervened for the same problem. They were reading it with an expression of wonder and distress at the same time. About an hour later the men looked up at her with a flash of dilemma in their eyes.

The older of the two look at the youngest member of their family, the baby that was born only twenty-five years ago and now would embark on the most important task of the twenty-second century.

"I don't see a return to this time line in this plan. You're not going to return, are you?" It was more a statement than a question, but he looked so worried and the sadness around both their eyes was palpable. She turned to them and her eyes started to tear up. She had promised herself that she would not do this, she would not cry now.

"It's the only thing I can think of. If I am there to make sure that the timeline stays true, then I don't have to worry about more problems coming down the road. Grandfather, I want to put into effect the Third Time Charm. I have gone back twice already and left messages with the people that should have been able to keep things from happening. That didn't work. The corruption is too deep. This will work, it will save all the people possible and the child will never have to put up in that awful situation. If I am there to teach them the correct way, bring the information I have to light, then maybe we can stop this war before it really starts in Voldemort's second reign." The woman looked at the most important men in her life with an earnestly determined expression.

"I could make things work with the right people in place. I know I can do that and bring the right proof to put our information and knowledge in place. I even have the memories from the other three time lines already."

They had discussed this at length before. Even as time spirits they could only go back and make a short appearance to try to get a message to the right people to change a decision or action made. They could only go back for a few days or a week. What the young woman was proposing was to go back for years to change the entire war and to create her own side. She would put together the people that could truly be trusted. But, there were risks. Not everything was guaranteed to work exactly the same way when changing that much history. People may change and not be as predictable as they were in the past. She was correct; someone had to be there to create contingencies, to change things when the unexpected happened. The one thing they knew for sure, she would not be back, and this would change everything. The Third Time Charm hadn't been used but once or twice in the history of the world and was not to be taken lightly.

The two elderly men shared a glance then looked back at the young woman seated before them. She started talking again before they could get a word in.

"The rules of magic will not allow me to make this much of change without the charm. You know that. Many of the extinct lines of the pureblood families could be preserved and our world will not be torn apart if this plan works out. The world just couldn't survive two dark lords at the same time without enduring so much damage."

She was right, they knew it. She had spent her life in hiding and moving around to keep one step ahead of the dark factions that wanted to kill their family. They had been after them for a hundred years and many family members had been lost.

Both the men looked at each other and nodded. It was nice looking at them, knowing they had developed their telepathic link years ago and could almost read and process each other's thoughts in the blink of an eye.

"Alright, Becca," the younger of the two men replied, "we will support this idea. You do realize the risk you take and what will happen if you don't succeed?"

"Yes, Granddad, I do."

The older of the two men then said, "Your time portal will open in a few hours. According to this plan, you need to hop the time line to make the preparations you describe in this journal. I must say it is quite unique. I can't believe no one came up with this before. Give us one hour to put together a few things and we will meet back here. Have you packed what you need?"

"Yes, grandfather, I have packed and shrunk everything I could think of, even the information and Pensieve of memories from the other time trips."

The gentleman rose from his chair and held his hand out to the younger of the two. "Come, my love, we have much to do." The other gentleman rose and they both pulled their great grand-daughter into a strong hug and then left the room with a "See you in one hour, sweetheart."

She hugged them back and left the room with them to go and get her trunks in her bedroom, waiting for the time pocket to become available.

An hour later, they were assembled in the time room. A room that was positioned in exactly the right place, with exactly the correct runes and the exact magic that was needed to put her in the place she needed to be. With her was a goblin named Gorbink and a light elf named Shashi. Both of these beings were long time friends of the family and would be accompanying her on the trip. Both had lost their entire family to the war and wanted to help. They were the most trustworthy of the family friends and could carry on the mission if something happened to Becca.

Her great grandfathers were preparing the ritual for the Third Time Charm. It was complicated and only a time spirit would have the power to complete the process. They the last of the time spirits and this was the only open window to be able to do this. In the past, the timeline was changed slightly but not completely. This would create a whole new time thread starting with James and Lily Potter's death which could not be changed as it was a pivotal point in history.

The rules of a time-turner were different from this. For a normal wizard the rules stated you couldn't be seen, you couldn't go back more than a few days and you could only change a certain small event.

This was a complete change of the future of the world.

The room was completely made of stone with specially prepared runes in every rock. The runes were for time travel and good fortune as you could not use it for evil intentions. The magic of the room would destroy anyone trying to go back for their own purposes and would not allow anyone of a dark heart or with an evil goal to use it.

The oldest soul mated couple in the wizarding world completed their tasks and turned to the young woman that they would see for the last time. "Are you sure you want to do this" they both asked simultaneously, as if they were one entity. The woman nodded firmly and moved into the middle of the room, standing on the largest symbol etched into the floor. Her face was a mask of determination as she positioned herself. Her companions followed, taking up their positions in front of her, each one on a particular point. Her calculations had been perfect, her runes exact and although she was reluctant to leave her great grandfathers, she knew she would see them again.

The men stepped forward, looked into her eyes for the last time and hugged her fiercely before stepping back again. The older of the two said "We have put together this for you, it is the contents of the vaults and the library, duplicates of all of our potions notes and things we have been working on. You will need these things. We hope you use them well." He handed to her what she knew was a bottomless pouch. This one could hold the whole household if you needed it to.

"You know I will. I will miss you both very much. I wish you could come with me." Tears gathered in her bright green eyes again. This was going to be harder than she thought. They hugged her again.

"You know we can't because we are needed here" said her granddad, his emerald green eyes looking into hers with sadness and regret. "We will meet you again" and with that he kissed her forehead and gave her a last hug.

The men then turned to their old friends. "Please take care of our great grand-daughter."

The goblin bowed his head as if it was a great honor, "It will be done, even without asking. Your granddaughter honors us with this near impossible task. She brings us back to a time when all of our families thrived and we hope to continue that. We will help her save the child. All our worlds have suffered because of the actions of a few. We will help put it right and welcome the chance to reinstate the old ways and make the needed changes."

The light elf also bowed and said "You're family has always honored the old ways. We thank you for this opportunity. Our families ended with us, we go to save them as well." He then shook hands with the two wizards and stepped back to his designated place on the symbol in the floor.

"Let's get started"

In the other time…


	2. All Is Not As It Seems

The Third Time is a Charm

Summary:

A child was born to return the pureblood ways of long ago, what would you do to save him? His inheritance stolen and his friends are traitors who can he turn to? Strangers appear-friend or foe Warn-language,child abuse, M/M SS/HP AD/RW/HG bashing

Explicit sex scenes. Severus will be OOC and a host of other characters.

Disclaimer: I do not own or have interest in any of the Harry Potter universe. I admire J. K. Rowling for entertaining us with her world of make believe. I do not make any money from writing this story, I just like to have fun and borrow her characters for a while.

I want to thank my wonderful beta just. for her great support and encouragement. I don't think this could have happened without her.

Chapter 2: All Is Not As It Seems

"Potter!!!" The potions master's baritone rang out angrily in the dungeon classroom full of students. The young man jumped as he was startled and Harry just sat there thinking 'He sounds upset, what now?'

Harry raised his head to face his Professor and locked his green eyes with obsidian staring at him, "Yes sir?"

"You will stay after class and discuss your next detention with me, Potter." The acerbic man in the black robes with a stern expression glared at Harry until he lowered his head and replied with a "Yes sir, Professor." His tone would make anyone think that he was a whipped puppy. Actually Harry knew that this was planned to keep suspicion off the two of them and it also only meant that Severus needed to speak with him about something important. The Gryffindor was trying hard not to smile so he kept his head lowered until he could school his face into a depressed but defiant expression.

As the rest of the class bottled their potions and packed up, Harry gathered his things and made his way to the front of the class. The Professor looked at him and said, "Mr. Potter," it was loud enough for the rest of the exiting class to hear, "you cannot continue to chop up your ingredients in that manner and expect a perfect potion, you will have detention with me this evening to see if you can learn something in the little time you have remaining at school before summer break."

Hermione was the last student to the door and as she reached it she turned around to look at Harry. "We will wait for you in the hall, Harry." Her eyes looked sad and compassionate but Harry knew better. He just looked at Severus, then back to the girl standing by the door and shook his head before Professor Snape could put an end to it.

The Professor glared at her and said, "You may go to your next class, Ms. Granger. I am sure Mister Potter here does not need a babysitter nor will he die without one of his adoring fan club members for a few minutes." The sneer on his face was enough for the girl to get moving out of the classroom. Really, the next time slot was a free period for Harry while Hermione had Ancient Runes; they would not have been together anyway. When she left, the door was shut, silenced and warded, only then did Harry turn to Severus with a big smile on his face, chuckling at his snarky professor.

"Okay, Severus, what did I really do wrong and what detention?" His green eyes were so bright with amusement and love that Severus almost forgot what he was going to say and why he started this farce in the first place.

"Harry, I have spoken with the Headmaster and he still insists that you need to go to your relatives for a few weeks this summer. I tried to talk him out of it but he will not give in on this matter. Even after I told him some of what I had seen during our Occlumency lessons." He gazed at the young man and his voice lowered to an anguished whisper. "I don't want to send you back there." Severus slowly brought his hand up to caress Harry's cheek, reveling in the slight spark of electricity that he always felt when they touched. The taller man gently stroked his love's face as he pulled him closer so he could hold the teen and offer some comfort. "I even suggested that because of your godfather's death, you should be with friends or be able to stay here. I didn't really go into it too much though, not wanting to arouse suspicion."

Harry laid his head on the man's chest and sighed, he knew it was a long shot and didn't really think that Dumbledore would let up on his insistence that he must return to his relatives. It was just that every summer they got worse than the year before and he was not sure what would happen if he had to stay there. It seemed that as he got older, his uncle got more violent and perverted. Severus had seen some of the abuse in the earlier years in studying the mind arts with Harry, and even though Harry was horrible at first, he and Severus had started to get through some of the exercises with more success as the year progressed. Since starting up again after the disastrous Pensieve incident, a new understanding developed between them, and things started progressing more positively than Severus could have predicted. It still did not help with Voldemort though, Sirius still died at the Department of Mysteries. Harry had learned how to block some the pain of his death but had to practice clearing his mind every night to keep back the nightmares.

Severus, with elegant fingers beneath Harry's chin, gently lifted the face of the Gryffindor so he could see the teenager's beautiful eyes. "Harry, you know I will get you out of there as soon as possible. Just give me some time. We will make this work."

A tear slipped quietly down the young man's cheek as he softly answered, "I know, Sev, we just need some time." Severus bent down and briefly claimed the young man's lips with his own and then held him a little longer in silence. Both were thinking about the abuse Harry had suffered before and would likely be subjected to again. Severus picked up Harry's hand and read the words etched into the skin ' I must not tell lies'. His anger started to rise to the surface. This was just another senseless act of abuse on the young savior who was now leaning against his chest with his eyes closed, taking in as much comfort as he could before he had to leave and face the real world again. This moment's respite felt as if they were shutting out the entire world and getting a much needed moment of peace.

Severus finally pulled away and he told Harry, "Be sure to tell everyone you have a detention with me at seven this evening and it will be late when you finish. That way no one will be looking for you. We have a lot to talk about and I don't want any interruptions. I have some news from Gringotts in response to the letter we wrote. We need to go over the statements and get some other things in place for your respite from those muggles."

Harry leaned in for a quick kiss and got ready to leave. As Severus pulled down the wards on the door of the classroom, Harry put on his 'I am in trouble with the greasy git' face and headed out the door.

Severus watched the boy, no young man, leaving the classroom and chuckled as he saw Harry's expression. Really, Harry should have been a Slytherin with the amount of play acting they had done recently. He really hadn't taken well to the knowledge that Harry must be his soul mate. In fact, he fought it with everything in him. He kept thinking that Harry was too young, he didn't deserve him, he was an incorrigible brat, he was the savior of the wizarding world, no one would accept them, and if word of this got out everyone would try to separate them. But Harry took every one of these objections and countermanded them. He didn't care he was the greasy potions master, he didn't care about the public and he didn't care about any of the other protests he made. Harry said he only knew that he had started to feel safe with Severus and that meant everything. That was when Severus started to accept the situation, now there were a whole other set of problems to worry about; Harry's friends.

Lunchtime was half over so Harry made a mad dash to the Great Hall, hoping to grab a bite to eat. He had spent more time with Severus than he thought. There he saw his two 'best friends' and Ginny sitting at the Gryffindor table halfway through their lunch. He quickly sat down at the table and pulled a sandwich off the platter, poured himself some pumpkin juice and started eating.

Of course, it was too much to hope that he could eat in peace. As soon as he started to put food into his mouth, Hermione and Ron started asking questions. He put his sandwich back down with a sigh and looked at them; he just couldn't eat the way Ron did talking with food in his mouth.

"I have detention tonight, again." He told them. "Snape wants me to learn to better prepare my ingredients so I have to scrub cauldrons." Ron looked at him and started talking with his mouth full as usual. Not a pretty sight so Harry looked at the table instead, shaking his head at Ron's table manners.

"Whf coldons to fo wid ingeefent?" It was sad to say that, even though his mouth was full, everyone at the table could understand him by now. Still shoveling food into his mouth, he looked at Harry for an answer.

Hermione started up then and said "Harry, you should talk to Professor Dumbledore, there wasn't anything wrong with the way you prepared your ingredients. I mean, it was a little sloppy, but your potion was still alright. There was no reason for him to treat you that way." Then the little miss know-it-all huffed under her breath, looked at Ron and shoved her elbow into his ribs to get him to stop eating so fast. She had done this so many times and the red head knew what she meant and just glared at her and said, "I hungry! Leave me alone"

Harry thought, 'who is she to tell me my ingredient preparation was sloppy?'

Harry started on his sandwich again, when Ginny started in on him, "Harry, why do you have so many detentions with the greasy bat? He always gives you more than anyone else and he needs to leave you alone. I wanted to see if we could take a walk this evening." That last bit of her statement almost sounded almost whiny.

Yeah, just what he needed.

Harry turned to her, hoping he looked apologetic and answered, "Well, not tonight Gin, I have to report at seven this evening and I have a feeling I will be there most of the night. You know he always gives me a lot to do, maybe some other time."

"That's what you said last time, Harry. I am beginning to believe that you are just too busy for me. No wonder you never date, you've always got something to do and never take the time out to spend it with your friends, or maybe you are avoiding us completely." And with that she grabbed her book bag and stalked off in a huff with her nose in the air, as if she was better than anyone at the table.

'Never spent time with his friends?' When did he have time, did she forget about the DA? That _was_ spending time with friends. He just didn't spend _alone_ time with her. Harry was deep in thought when he chanced a glance at the head table.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw the tall, dark professor at the head table smirk. Well maybe Ginny would leave him alone now. Or then again maybe not, this was not the first time she got mad at Harry because he 'ignored' her or found something else to do when she wanted to go for a 'walk'. Still, 'walk' usually translated to someplace, out of the way, for a snogging session and Harry didn't want to spend his time that way. He just didn't enjoy being around girls like that, and hadn't for a long time, even before discovering his soul mate. He was hoping Ginny would get the subtle message, but so far it hadn't happened yet. He would probably have to take a more direct approach like he did with Ron. These Weasleys were not the smartest of the bunch.

Harry briefly reflected over the past year at Hogwarts. If you have told him that he would be friendly with Professor Snape and he would find out his friends would betray him and Dumbledore would use him, he would never have believed it. The most amazing thing this past year was finding his soul mate. When Professor Snape resumed giving him Occlumency lessons, they discovered a spark (literally) every time they touched. It started with Harry falling and spraining his wrist and when Severus held it to take a look at it there were sparks. Then he saw the scar from the blood quill, he was not happy about that and got all protective about it. The spark had only grown brighter from there during the last part of the year and Harry felt so safe when Severus would hold him it just seemed surreal. Like nothing could hurt him as long as he stayed there. Of course, in a few days he would have to go back to his loving relatives to spend the summer and he didn't know how he was going to live without seeing Sev for a whole month.

"Mr. Potter!" a surly voice cut across his reflections, "I do believe you will be late for class if you don't hurry." Harry looked up to see Severus glaring down at him, eyebrow raised in a smirking kind of way. Harry then he looked around the Great Hall and realized it was empty. Well, at least he had eaten half a sandwich.

"Yes, Professor, I am on my way." Harry quickly picked up his books and ran out of the Great Hall and through the door for Care of Magical Creatures class.

"Where have you been?" Hermione hissed as he sat down on the grass beside her and Ron in class. "You were nearly late for class!" Harry just looked at her but before he could answer Hagrid started his lecture on blast-ended skewts so he didn't comment. Really, you would think she was his mother or something. He hated when she reprimanded him like that. She wasn't his keeper and he had made it to class on time. At least the summer would mean getting away from her.

Harry wasn't paying much attention to classes the rest of the day. After having taken OWLS, the fiasco at the Department of Mysteries and the death of his Godfather, the teachers didn't really mind too much. He had been through a lot this year. There were only two days of school left anyway. Next class was charms and he couldn't even tell you what Flitwick was talking about. He briefly came to the present to write down his summer assignment but then went back to thinking about how much his life sucked. Maybe he could go visit Severus early because he didn't really feel like eating. After class, he excused himself from his 'friends and told them he was going to take a nap.

"Are you feeling alright, Harry?" Hermione asked. Yeah, like she really cared.

"I'm fine, Hermione, just tired." Harry replied. He just wanted to lie down and forget about school, summer, and his traitorous 'friends'.

Going back to Gryffindor tower, he got into the bed that he had used for the last 5 years and closed the curtains, put up a ward and silencing charm that Severus had taught him and lay down. He remembered that conversation that Ron and Hermione had while he was in the hospital wing. The conversation that changed his life forever... the same conversation that let him know exactly how they felt about him… the same conversation that told him of Dumbledore's machinations and lies and manipulations… the same conversation that inspired him to go to Severus for help.

That was what tonight's detention was all about. During the conversation, his friends were having while they thought he was sleeping, he discovered they were not really his friends, but were hired by Dumbledore to be his friends. Also they had said something about money taken from his Gringotts accounts and bonuses for keeping him out of trouble. Actually they were angry with him because they would not get a bonus this year as they didn't keep him from the Department of Mysteries and got into trouble. Oh, they had tried but Harry knew Sirius was in trouble and he had to help. After they left, Harry had to sneak down to the dungeons to talk to Severus. They drafted a letter to Gringotts and sent it with Severus's owl. They didn't want to use Hedwig as she might be monitored. They spelled the letter to only be read by someone at the bank and explained the situation. Severus had said he had an answer from the Wizarding bank and they would go over it tonight.

He was not sure he wanted the answers but he was sure he needed them. He needed to know everything that was going on if he was to survive.


	3. A Word with Severus

The Third Time is a Charm

Summary:

A child was born to return the pureblood ways of long ago, what would you do to save him? His inheritance stolen and his friends are traitors who can he turn to? Strangers appear-friend or foe Warn-language, child abuse, M/M SS/HP AD/RW/HG bashing

Explicit sex scenes. Severus will be OOC and a host of other characters.

Disclaimer: I do not own or have interest in any of the Harry Potter universe. I admire J. K. Rowling for entertaining us with her world of make believe. I do not make any money from writing this story, I just like to have fun and borrow her characters for a while.

I want to thank my wonderful beta Lex for her great support and encouragement. I don't think this could have happened without her.

CHAPTER 3: A Word with Severus

Harry actually drifted off to sleep for a few minutes. Since he hadn't been sleeping well for the last week or so, he stayed tired all day long. When he did the tempus spell, it showed he only had twenty minutes before his 'detention' with Severus. A quick shower and fifteen minutes later he was on his way to visit the 'greasy git'. Even though he didn't need to, he got under his invisibility cloak before leaving the dormitory. It had become a habit so he wouldn't be seen. He went through the common room and out the door undetected. When the portrait of the fat lady closed, he hugged the wall in the alcove as he saw Ron and Hermione were coming up the stairs, as usual having another heated debate.

"..and Ginny has decided to go to Professor Dumbledore and plead our case. We put ourselves in danger and we are not getting our bonus this year. She wanted to get new robes with the money and is very upset. I mean really, it's not like Harry will ever miss the money." Ron was speaking in a whisper but Harry could still hear him. It was a wonder that no one else could. If this was the way they were talking, it amazed him that he had not heard them before, or that no one else in the dorm knew about it. Don't they have any sense of discretion? The differences between Gryffindor and Slytherin were very noticeable when one was looking for it.

Hermione was now saying something about saving so she could go to university and needing the money for tuition. She wanted to go into the legal profession and help change the laws for enslaved creatures. That meant at least four more years after she graduated from Hogwarts. Harry breathed a sigh of relief when they disappeared into the common room and then he quickly went down the stairs and made his way to the potions classroom. His only thought was to get to Severus, he didn't dare think on what the others had said. It was still devastating, even knowing about their betrayal, to hear how they really feel about him and how they only want his money and not to be a friend.

Harry knocked very lightly on the door and waited for the smooth "enter" before opening the door and closing it behind him. Severus was standing, hip against the side of his desk, arms folded across his chest with a scowl on his face. The scowl changed to an expression of confusion when no one came through the door. "Harry?" he asked to the seemingly empty room. It still unnerved him that Harry could move around the castle like a ghost and had been doing it since first year.

Harry stepped further into the room and removed his cloak. "Yeah, Professor, it's me." Harry looked around the room to make sure they were alone. It wouldn't do for Dumbledore to be there and hear Harry call his supposedly most hated professor by his first name.

"You are late. Had problems getting here?" Harry was glad to hear the concern is his voice instead of the acidic tone the older man usually used but it was his undoing, as the tears started to well up and fall. Severus started to walk towards the young man, uncrossed his arms and looked at Harry as if searching for an answer on his face. Harry looked upset and he silently waited for his soul mate to answer. Yes they were soul mates (he took pleasure in the knowledge still); it was proved every time they just touched hands and a magical current ran through their skin. As if their magic recognized each other and couldn't wait to merge. Even now, Severus unconsciously stretched his arm forward to offer his hand for Harry to take. But Harry didn't take it just looked at it and Severus could see the silent tears slowly flowing down his cheeks one by one, making their way down high cheekbones and then dripping on his shirt.

Severus quickly warded the door with locking and silencing charms and whispered, "Harry, what's wrong?"

Harry started to answer but Severus could barely hear what he was saying. The tears were still coursing down to his face as if Harry didn't even know they were there. "The two of them… were talking in the hallway, just in front of the Gryffindor Tower door. They were talking… about not getting a bonus this year… you know… I mentioned that before." Harry's breath hitched as he tried to tell Severus what he overheard. "They said Ginny… was going to speak with Dumbledore,,, as she had plans for the money and then they said I wouldn't miss the money anyway… so there was no reason to withhold it." Harry looked at Severus and then asked him," Am I so hard to get along with, so undeserving of real friends and family, so horrible a person that I don't deserve to have someone 'befriend' me or that people have to be hired just to like me? Am I such a _freak_ that I really don't deserve a life or to be loved? I feel as if I am only a weapon to the Wizarding world and then I could just quietly die and no one could care less except to fight over my money and property. Maybe my uncle is right, I am a freak and no one will ever care about me."

"No, you are not a freak," Severus firmly retorted, "you are not deserving of this, you were just unprotected and the wrong people infiltrated your life before the right ones found you." Severus put his arm around Harry's shoulder and continued, "Let's take this conversation into my private office. There are some other things we need to talk about before it gets too late and you have to return to Gryffindor." Severus actually considered putting this off another day, but knew there was really no other time. Harry would be leaving and they needed to go over this as soon as possible, but Harry was so distraught and he didn't want to cause the young man any more undue stress.

The two men passed through the hidden side door in the classroom to go into Severus' office. There, on the desk, were the statements from Gringotts, the Wizarding bank. These statements arrived as a response to a letter Harry had Severus send. Harry had signed a statement with a drop of his blood so that they could find out what was going on. The Gryffindor didn't get normal statements from the bank and he didn't know who did, but he signed a letter giving Severus permission to inquire about his account. Little did he know he was not ready for the answers that were about to come.

"Harry," Severus started speaking first to get Harry's attention, "we first have to find out who your enemies are, and then we will find out who your real friends are. We will start with your statements; it may shed some light on your missing funds and who withdrew them." He sat Harry down in the chair next to his desk and Severus sat down across from his younger soul mate, pulling out the parchment from the bank as he did so.

"Alright Sev, have you looked at them yet?" Harry asked but Severus shook his head and replied.

"I haven't had the time between classes, but before we start, did you eat? I didn't see you in the Great Hall during dinner."

"No, I wasn't hungry and I fell asleep." Harry said quietly. Severus looked at Harry's face and could see the dark circles under his eyes. He knew the child, no young man, had not been sleeping properly lately and this was just confirmation that maybe he should take some dreamless sleep potion tonight.

"Would you like some tea? We can call one of the house elves to bring some tea and biscuits if you are hungry." Harry just kind of shrugged but said nothing. "You should eat something, we could be here awhile." Harry nodded and Severus called upon an elf to order tea. The elf returned almost immediately with a porcelain pot of fragrant chamomile tea, chocolate biscuits and to Harry's delight, his favorite treacle tart. The tray also included some fresh fruit and a light cucumber sandwiches.

After Harry had eaten half a sandwich and a piece of treacle tart he did feel a little better. Then he looked at Severus and said, "Let's get started on those statements, they're not going to change or go away so we may as well get this over and done with."

Severus nodded and handed the parchments to Harry, they were after all, Harry's accounts. As Harry opened them and looked at the statements for a few minutes, he looked up at Severus, "I don't understand some of this, would you look at it and explain it to me?"

"Sure, Harry, that is why I'm here." He smiled fondly at the young man and took the parchments back to start looking at them. Harry had a bad feeling about it when Severus remained expressionless as he looked at the statements more than one time from page to page as if cross referencing items from one page to the next. When a dark cloud shadowed his face, Harry's unease grew exponentially.

"Harry, do you remember at any time getting tutoring or extra study sessions with another instructor not at this school?

"No, why?

"There are expenses noted here as being paid, mostly out of your trust fund account but a few out of you parents vault. I am surprised about that; I didn't think Gringotts would allow your parents vaults to be touched until you were of age. It says here you went on vacation during Christmas holidays to Romania during first year. You went with the Weasleys to Egypt during summer before third year. There are tutoring fees as far back as three years before you started school, mostly paid to the Weasleys, Bill, Charlie, Arthur and Molly but some to Dumbledore too. There are notes here for payment to take you to an amusement park when you were ten and other amusement parks before that. Another statement has charges for premium box seats at the Quidditch World Cup; didn't you tell me you were high in the rafters? This says you bought six seats in the box next to the Minster of Magic's box. Those are the most expensive seats at the stadium.

"Mr. Weasley said he got the tickets from someone he knew at the ministry. I guess he forgot to tell me he paid for them with my money. We didn't sit in those seats so I guess he must have traded them in for the other ones because more people came. Bill and Charlie were there also. I bought programs and stuff for everyone with my own pocket money. They should have been buying them for me." Harry interjected before Severus continued.

"Harry, the price difference of those seats to the ones you actually had is twenty to one. You could have bought one hundred and twenty seats in the rafters for the price of the box seats." Severus interjected. "Did you know that you are the heir to Sirius Black's property and vaults?"

"No, no one told me."

"Harry, I don't know how to tell you this but, there is over a million galleons missing from your vault and your parents vaults." Harry's face went ashen. Severus didn't notice at first because he was still focused on the statements in front of him, so he continued as he recapped what he was reading as if he couldn't believe it either. "There are fees here for living expenses, vacation expenses, entertainment expenses, health expenses, tutoring expenses, security expenses and a wide variety of other miscellaneous expenses." Severus said incredulously. Now Harry started to breath heavily and Severus jerked his head up as he heard the teenager starting to hyperventilate.

"Damn!" he muttered under his breath. He accioed a calming potion and handed it to his mate but Harry didn't take it from him. When Severus took a closer look at Harry and noticed that his eyes were glazed over and he really wasn't seeing anything, he noticed the young man's hands were shaking and so was the rest of his body. The professor quickly got up and went to Harry's side, gently held his face and was able to get him to drink the potion down slowly. When the potion vial was empty, Severus watched him closely, holding his hand, as he slowly returned back to the present.

"Are you feeling better?"

Harry nodded, "I don't understand, what expenses got paid? I have never been on a vacation in my life and my relatives always said I should be lucky that they took me in because I cost them too much money. I have never received even one stitch of new clothing the whole time growing up. I always had to wear Dudley 's castoffs. The only new clothing I have ever gotten was what I bought with my money for school and I know I didn't take that much out of the bank. I didn't even know I had that much." While Harry was speaking he didn't notice he was becoming more vocal and his voice was actually getting shrill.

"Calm down, Harry. We knew that things haven't been right. We will not be able to straighten this out over owl post though; we'll have to plan a trip to Gringotts. You have one more day of classes then leave on the train three days after. Let's make an appointment to go as soon as the train gets to London. We can send a message to your relatives to not pick you up and I will meet you there, in disguise of course, and we will go together. At least then I can be sure you are safe and no one will try to stop you. Maybe you should tell everyone that your neighbor is coming to get you as your Aunt and Uncle are too busy or on an important trip, that way it won't seem strange when I meet you. Be sure to tell the people you would regularly confide in and maybe make a comment while passing through the walkway on the train. This is one time we will take advantage of everyone trying to find out what you are doing and putting their nose into you business." Severus said with a mile.

"Is this your Slytherin mind at work, Severus?" The older man just quirked an eyebrow as if wordlessly asking, 'What do you think?'

Harry was starting to feel better now that Severus was able to explain some things. He knew he had at least one person on his side; someone who actually cared for him. It really was strange when you thought about it. If you had told Harry six months ago this would happen, he would have most likely blown his temper and rushed into the common room and shouted at his two friends, letting everyone know what was going on and alerting every one of the perpetrators to what he knew about them. Now, Severus was teaching not only Occlumency lessons, but what Harry liked to call Slytherin lessons. He would eventually let the people who betrayed him know how much he knew but he would plan for his revenge with Severus at his side. Yes, things were bad, but they could be a lot worse.

It was almost curfew now and Harry knew he had to leave. The feeling of reluctance was very strong. He held on to Severus tightly around his waist as if holding on for dear life and buried his face in the crook of the other man's neck. Severus soothingly rubbed his soul mate's back, telling him that they would make this right and he would be free from the current circumstances soon.

"Harry, it is almost curfew, you don't want to be late getting back to the dorm. Remember to ward your bed after pulling the curtains closed, just as I taught you a few months ago. You need to be extra careful now that we have an idea of what has been going on."

"Yeah, I know. Don't want Ron attacking me while I am sleeping because he isn't getting his 'bonuses'." Severus knew what it was costing Harry to joke about that. It was such a personal blow to know that his friends were only his companions because they were getting paid. Soon they would know the extent of the damage to his vaults at Gringotts. He was actually looking forward to seeing the Goblins faces when they found out. They prided themselves on keeping everyone's money safe and didn't really like some wizards and their thieving ways. This would not go over well for the people involved on the receiving end of these transactions.

With one last soft kiss, Harry cloaked himself in his invisibility cloak and silently stepped out of Severus' office. He headed toward the Gryffindor rooms just as silently. When he reached the door with the fat lady, he whispered the password and slipped past the portrait. Hermione and Ron were sitting in front of the fire talking.

"So where do you suppose he is now?" Ron was saying.

"He is in detention, at least that is what he told us, but he should be coming in soon. We should keep an eye out for him so we can ask him. I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will want to know. Did you make note of what time he left?"

'What is this now', Harry thought, 'they keep track of my every movement? Don't I get any privacy? I'm sure glad Severus made a big fuss in the class and gave me detention in that snarly attitude of his. At least they won't be suspecting something from that.'

"No, I didn't really notice what time he left. He had that detention so I figured Professor Dumbledore already knew about it. Why report information he already knows?"

"How many times do I have to tell you, we should be keeping as accurate an accounting of his time as possible? It might be important!" Hermione, at this point, was almost shouting at Ron. Harry wanted to laugh and, in fact, covered his mouth with his hand to stay silent. They were really funny sometimes.

Harry, sitting on the stairwell to the dorm, decided to go up and get into bed. Today had been a very stressful day. Just as he went up about 4 steps, he heard Ron telling Hermione that he was going to wait 5 more minutes and then go to bed. She could wait up for Harry if she wanted so she could give Dumbledore an 'accurate accounting' of Harry's comings and goings. Ron was not losing sleep over that stupid loser.

Harry rushed up the remainder of the stairs and quickly got into bed where his night clothes were already laid out (courtesy of the elves) and closed his drapes and warded them so no one could open them or hear anything from inside. Let Ron deal with that. He wouldn't know for sure Harry was inside or if he had just warded his bed before gong to detention. He settled down, practiced his Occlumency exercises and eventually started to drift into sleep


	4. The Dream

The Third Time is a Charm

Summary:

A child was born to return the pureblood ways of long ago, what would you do to save him? His inheritance stolen and his friends are traitors who can he turn to? Strangers appear-friend or foe Warn-language, child abuse, M/M SS/HP AD/RW/HG bashing

Explicit sex scenes, Severus will be OOC and a host of other characters.

Disclaimer: I do not own or have interest in any of the Harry Potter universe. I admire J. K. Rowling for entertaining us with her world of make believe. I do not make any money from writing this story, I just like to have fun and borrow her characters for a while.

I want to thank my wonderful beta Lex for her great support and encouragement. I don't think this could have happened without her.

Chapter 4: The Dream

Harry was sitting next to Severus in an unknown room, holding a baby in his arms. The baby looked just like him as a small child. He assumed it was a child for him and Severus but the babe in his arms didn't have any of his mate's features. It was a cute baby and Harry just knew the baby was a boy. He and Severus were both looking at the baby in awe when they were interrupted.

A beautiful young woman entered the room, she had long black hair, was slender and tall, and her eyes reminded Harry of his own. She looked at Harry and said, "Please remember me, the child is in danger and I will come when you need me most. You can trust me and know that I am there to help. Peace be with you, young Harry." Harry didn't exactly know where the child came from as he and Severus had not done anything to create the said child, maybe he was seeing the future. He then drifted into a deeper, peaceful sleep.

Harry woke up the next morning with a feeling that he was forgetting something, something important, and something that had to do with his future. He also had an overwhelming feeling of contentment and love. The type of feeling he had when he was with Severus but with something more. Harry pondered over his feelings as he grabbed his clothes for the day and headed for the showers.

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Severus was getting ready for bed, considered a dreamless sleep potion but then decided against it. He would need a good night's sleep though to help Harry face the next few days as they sorted out the problems of his 'friends' and the conniving headmaster. He really didn't like to think about it either, but Harry was counting on him. How could the headmaster be so cruel to Harry? Dumbledore was always trying to make excuses for the young Gryffindor and let him get away with what ever he wanted. In the past, Severus had often reported that Harry was wondering the corridors at night after curfew. Maybe Dumbledore felt guilty knowing he was stealing from the child. This situation certainly made his spying easier; he would not be telling anybody about what Harry was doing. He would just report to both masters he didn't know anything and didn't see anything. Dumbledore would be easier to fool than the Dark Lord but hopefully this would all be straightened out when he next had to report. Little did he know, there would be no next report.

Severus then started thinking about Harry. He knew they were soul mates but he was so young in years. There was so much he had yet to learn but he had already experienced so much, things that even most grown men could only imagine. He was a strange mixture of young and old. Harry was not even sixteen yet. This was the beginning of June and he would not be sixteen until the end of July. He was so young but had lived a lifetime of misery and suffering. Severus' mind kept going in circles like this for the better part of an hour. He hoped he could get Harry out of that place this summer. As soon as Harry turned sixteen he would be able to obtain emancipation and possibly move in with Severus or at least into one of the Potter properties. A few of the houses may even have house elves to help him settle. Once at the end of a school year, he remembered Potter and Black talking about a summer house with house elves, one that they were hoping to visit again that summer. They would find out what properties Harry owned when they went to Gringotts, maybe they would also have a report on the condition of the estates.

As he drifted off to sleep, he started thinking about all the places they could go see together for the next summer holidays when Harry would no longer be required to stay with those horrid muggles. Even though Harry was young, Severus felt closer to him than anyone else he had ever known. He wanted a life with the younger man and all he could hope for is that they were both alive once this war was over.

He saw Harry and him sitting on a sofa in a strange room. Harry was sitting next to him smiling and holding a baby in his arms. A beautiful young woman walked into the room unannounced and said, "Severus, I will come to help save the child. Your world is in danger. You will need to trust me. I will be sent to help you when you need it most." When Severus started to ask, "What child?" the woman faded out and was not in the room anymore. He faintly heard a "Peace be with you, Severus." and then nothing else. He just had this feeling, of warmth and love, and fell into a deeper sleep.

The next morning, he remembered dreaming about something important but couldn't remember what it was. He had this feeling of overwhelming peace and love and contentment along with one of the best night's sleep in a long time. He wondered how he had such a dream, he had not been clairvoyant before and there was something different about this. It was almost as if it was a message and not a real dream, but if that was so, then how did someone get through his Occlumency shields? He wished he had woken up and put the dream in his journal as he couldn't shake the feeling that it was really important.

Well, it was too late now.

Harry spent the next several days in 'detention' with Severus. Even the headmaster tried to get Severus to let up on his stringent rules, having gotten 'reports' from his spies on Harry's time. Severus told him he was teaching Harry Occlumency again so the old coot decided to leave them alone. Harry continued to feel unsafe in the Gryffindor tower and tried to spend as much time as he could in his soul mate's rooms. He wasn't just practicing Occlumency but they were also planning on what to do at Gringotts and what they needed to do this summer. They went over strategies on how to get him away from his relatives as soon as possible and where they would go so that Dumbledore and Voldemort could not find him.

It was the last day of school and the leaving feast was in progress. Harry was on his way down to the Great Hall when a stunner went past his ear, barely missing him. He ducked and pulled his wand out of its holster and quickly threw up a Protego against the next few curses that came whizzing his way. He knew the spell came from somewhere down the stairs and so he carefully crouched down and stayed close to the wall as he descended. He could not see anyone, but knew they must be there. Another stunner came his way and he just caught sight of the flash of light coming from the armor in the alcove at the turn of the spiral staircase. He threw a quick Petrify at that direction, not knowing who was behind it, then carefully continued down the staircase to see if anyone else was around. Harry was so tempted to go investigate this himself, and it was certainly what he would have done before his relationship with Severus started. The young man had never had an adult he could go to or count on, until the Potions Professor. He knew however that if he did not get help without delay then Severus would have something to say about it later and it would not be pleasant. When he got into the Great Hall, he immediately noticed Severus sitting next to Professor McGonagall, so he went to tell her what happened. Since Severus was sitting next to her, he was able to let his soul mate know about the incident without raising suspicion.

"Professor McGonagall," Harry said in a hushed but hurried voice so the other students could not hear him, "Someone was throwing spells at me in the stairwell by Gryffindor tower and I have petrified them. The person was behind the armor but I didn't check to see who it was, in case there were other people trying to do the same thing." He glanced at Severus briefly then continued with his head of house. "I was not trying to hurt them, just stop them from stunning me while on the stairs before I fell." Severus blanched at this. Those stairs were steep and it could be deadly if someone fell down them.

Both professors got up and quickly strode out of the Great Hall, robes billowing behind them, to check things out. Harry followed them to see who was trying to attack him. When they reached the armor, Professor Snape levitated it to see who was behind it. There was Ginny, frozen.

With a quick flick of the professor's wand, the girl was mobilized again and standing there as if nothing happened, trying to look innocent to the teachers in front of her. Severus looked into her eyes and with a silent and wandless legilimens, got a glimpse of a meeting with the headmaster and the other two thirds of the Golden Trio. In the meeting, they discussed taking Harry somewhere in the castle to keep him 'safe' and separated from the remainder of the student body until it was time to leave. He didn't see anything else as it would take a stronger effort in Legilimency to ferret out the details. It was enough to let him know that once again Harry was in some sort of danger from the headmaster and his 'friends'.

Severus quickly turned to see if Harry had followed them and saw him standing a little away from the scene. Obviously not wanting to be noticed so he could find out what was going on. Severus thought he was going to have to congratulate him on his new Slytherin qualities. This was not the first time he had noticed that Harry was becoming more subtle in his dealings with people and not charging in like a Gryffindor.

"What is the meaning of this, Miss Weasley?" Professor McGonagall asked in her sternest voice.

"I don't know what you mean, professor. We were just having some fun." Ginny tried to look innocent but completely failed. She knew that she could get away with it with her head of house but not with Professor Snape. All the students knew he could read minds.

Severus, though, was going to let Minerva handle this if he could. He didn't want to bring more attention to Harry and him if he could help it. Just one more day, he kept telling himself, just one more day and the school session would be over.

As it turned out, Ginny received a week's worth of detentions from Professor McGonagall and it was to be served at the start of the new term. When she performed a Priori Incantatem, it showed several Stunners, a Leg Locker curse and a Petrificus used all within the last few minutes. Since she was standing by the stairs, it was deduced that she was using magic irresponsibly and so lost fifty points for Gryffindor and had detention. There was a reason students were not allowed to use magic in the hallways. She also had to apologize to Harry.

Professor McGonagall was still standing in the hallway with her and watched as Ginny turned to face Harry.

A smirk firmly planted on her face, "I am sorry Harry, I wasn't thinking properly. I was just having fun." To be honest, she didn't look very apologetic.

Harry had a pensive look on his face as he spoke back. "I accept your apology, but I would like to know what you meant when you said earlier, '**We** were just having fun'? I didn't see anyone else; did you do this because of a dare or something?" He actually thought that he didn't have a choice _but_ to accept her apology with McGonagall standing there.

Even if no one could see his reaction, Severus was proud of Harry for picking up on the unintentional slip in the girl's answer earlier and then asking that question. It was one he wanted to ask but this was a matter between Gryffindors and he needed to let them settle it themselves.

McGonagall looked at the Weasley chit with a sharp piercing stare and waited for her to answer. "It was just a slip of the tongue; no one else was helping me. I was on my own, really!" The older witch nodded her head and said, "You will report to my office now, Miss Weasley. Your parents will be notified and they will be very disappointed." The triumphant glint in the redheaded girl stated otherwise, "This could have been a serious matter, using spells like this around the stairs. Even a stray hex could have permanently damaged a student. You should know better."

Though their telepathic link from the soul bond was not working yet, Severus and Harry were both thinking the same thing. Harry was not safe in Gryffindor tower.

As the Weasley and her head of house left the area to go to the office, Severus put a scowl on his face while putting up a privacy shield around them, mindful of the other students standing around trying to find out what happened. He then muttered under his breath with as little mouth movement as possible but still being understood.

"You, Mister Potter, will go pack all your things, shrink your trunk and come to the dungeons for the remainder of the evening. Make sure you have your invisibility cloak on and avoid being seen."

Harry, also with a scowl on his face, just nodded and headed up the stairs to the tower to pack his clothes. There were a few people in the common room but with the thunderous look on Harry's face, everyone wisely decided to leave him alone. He looked to be in a foul mood and no one wanted to be on the receiving end of his temper. Usually when this happened, they would just leave him alone as they assumed that he would talk about whatever was bothering him when he was ready.

Harry ran into the dorms, hoping no one else was there and no one would follow him. He knew he wouldn't have much time before someone burst into the room, so he warded the door and quickly packed all of his things, leaving only his cloak and wand out, and then shrunk his trunk the way Severus taught him to. He placed his trunk in his pocket, threw the cloak around him, warded his bed as if he were sleeping and left the dorm to go to the dungeons. Carefully, he pressed himself closely against the wall and started down the stairs. It wouldn't do to bump into someone if they were coming up while he was going down. As he entered the common room, he saw Ron and Hermione talking in hushed tones in a corner of the room. He decided to eavesdrop to see if he could find out more on why Ginny decided to hex him. Harry carefully and silently made his way to the corner of the room; the two Gryffindors were having, what looked to be, a serious conversation.

Hermione was almost hissing at Ron, saying, "You know Ginny should not have gotten caught trying to hex Harry. It was stupid to do that on the stairs, he hasn't defeated You-Know-Who yet. She wasn't supposed to kill him; the instructions were simply just to keep him detained for a while and try to feed him that potion." The girl rolled her eyes and continued, "Really Ronald, what is the point of giving Harry a love potion if the boy is dead?"

Ron replied, just as quietly, "She probably wasn't thinking about that. Really, it has been hard to pin him down with the detentions he has been serving and his hiding. Sometimes I don't see him, except in classes, for three or four days except when he is sleeping and then he wards his bed. She probably just saw him and decided to take the opportunity."

"Honestly Ronald, to start a new term with detentions. This has got to be a new record. I don't even think the twins have managed that." The bushy haired girl stood with her hands, closed into fists, planted firmly on her hips. Really, she thought, how stupid could one family get?

"Actually they have, their first year. They thought if the prank was not too bad, and at the last minute, they would get off. They had to serve a detention when they came back for their second year. They told me they learned not to get caught."

Hermione huffed at that with an exasperated sigh, "Come on, Ron, I think Harry is in your dorm room. Let's go see if we can find him. Professor Dumbledore said to keep an eye on him."

"Yeah right, I feel like some kind of babysitter!" Ron whined but took Hermione's hand and started up the stairs.

Harry turned and dashed for the common room door as soon as Hermione said she wanted to find him to keep an eye on him. He stealthily progressed down the stairs, staying close to the walls in case anyone detected him and made his way to the dungeons with a silencing charm on his shoes. He was getting good at this skulking bit. Covert operations, Harry stifled a snigger, he felt like a spy in one of those movies Dudley liked to watch. Severus would be proud of him; how Slytherin.

As Harry made his way to the hallway leading to the dungeons, he passed Ginny. He held his breath and stood absolutely still keeping out of her pathway. She looked furious and he was glad she couldn't see him.

She was grumbling under her breath as she passed him by, but Harry couldn't understand what she was saying. Actually, the more he thought about it, the more demented she really appeared with her hair a little wild and her mumbling down the hallway.

When she had passed and was out of sight, Harry continued to go towards the hallway to the dungeons. He passed a few Slytherins but, for the most part, was unhindered for the rest of his journey.


	5. Drastic Measures

The Third Time is a Charm

Summary:

A child was born to return the pureblood ways of long ago, what would you do to save him? His inheritance stolen and his friends are traitors who can he turn to? Strangers appear - friend or foe? Warn-language, child abuse, M/M SS/HP AD/RW/HG bashing

Explicit sex scenes, Severus will be VERY OOC and a host of other characters.

Disclaimer: I do not own or have interest in any of the Harry Potter universe. I admire J. K. Rowling for entertaining us with her world of make believe. I do not make any money from writing this story, I just like to have fun and borrow her characters for a while and I promise to return them when I am finished.

I want to thank my wonderful beta Lex for her great support and encouragement. I don't think this could have happened without her.

Chapter 5: Drastic Measures

As always, the closer you got toward the Slytherin dungeons the cooler the hallway was. It was no wonder they were better at warming charms than the rest of the school. They needed them when living in the dorms and staying in the common rooms. The charms needed to be refreshed every now and then, but Harry did not want to bring attention to himself by throwing a few charms, especially when he was invisible.

Finally, Harry came to the painting of a Burmese python snake with its cream colored underbelly and strange pattern of black and brown spots coiled around a tree and he hissed at it with his special password. Severus and he came up with it to make sure no one else could overhear it and get into Severus' private quarters. This way the portrait did not have to see Harry to let him in. He then briefly knocked on the door frame to let Severus know that he was coming in. Severus was sitting in his favorite chair when Harry slowly came through the portrait doorway and walked over to stand in front of the older man and then took off his cloak so Severus could see him.

"Hi," Harry said feeling a little down because of all the things he found out that evening.

"Hello yourself, did something else happen?" Severus could see the expression on Harry's face and he just didn't seem to be his usual optimistic self. Of course, Severus reminded himself wryly, he had plenty of reasons not to be.

"I heard Ron and Hermione talking. Ginny attacked me on Dumbledore's orders so she could feed me a love potion." Harry looked so lost and disappointed. Of course with those 'friends' of his, it was expected.

"Love potion? Where were they going to get a love potion? I suppose the insufferable know-it-all could brew one, but I wouldn't trust the other two to do that. It could be very dangerous."

Severus didn't let it show but he was angry, very angry. The repercussions of this could harm Harry for life and no one should be using love potions. In his opinion it bordered on dark magic. He didn't even want to think about what something like that could do to their recently discovered bond or how it could destroy the bond. In destroying the bond it could also destroy them. Severus pulled his soul mate into his lap and put a strong protective arm around him.

"I know, Sev, I am wondering if I can really come back to school next year." Harry covered his face with his hands in despair and starting ranting. "I don't know how I am supposed to learn anything with all this going on." Harry stood up and started to pace furiously in front of Severus. "What am I going to do if someone decides to poison me? How can I eat anything at the Great Hall if people are going to put something in my food? Maybe I could just find somewhere else to live or go to a different school, but you know Dumbledore will never let me do that. Why does that man have to meddle in my… my life so much?" The teenager's voice cracked towards the end of the rant and Severus got up from the chair and put his arms around Harry. "I know its distressing Harry but we will find a way out of this. We just need to think clearly. Have you eaten yet?"

"No. I was coming down to dinner when Ginny attacked me and with all the other stuff going on, I haven't had a chance. To be honest, I don't know if I could stomach anything." Harry leaned against Severus and sighed. "If only the world would leave us alone. Maybe we could find a house and hide for the next fifty years. That would be nice." Harry's expression twisted angrily.

"Harry, just sit here for a few minutes under your cloak while I go and order some tea from the kitchens. I don't want to let the elves know you are here or to tell them that tea is for you. We have to be very careful right now." Severus sat Harry down in his favorite chair, went to his bedroom and flung some floo powder in the fireplace to order tea. Soon a house elf arrived with a tray of biscuits, tea and sandwiches and set the tray on the bedside stand and popped out when Severus dismissed him. Severus then brought the tray into the sitting room to where Harry was draped over the chair staring into space. He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he didn't see Severus walk into the room.

"Harry?" no answer, "Harry?" still no answer. Severus reached a hand out to remove the cloak praying that the young man was still in the chair. "Harry!"

"Huh?" Harry was startled and jerked his head up.

"What are you thinking about and so seriously at that?" Severus asked wondering what in the world could have Harry so preoccupied.

"I think I have come up with something that may help. Let me eat first and I will explain it." Severus raised one eyebrow, a classic move of his, letting Harry know he wanted answers and was waiting.

"This from the young man that wasn't sure he wanted to eat?"

"Plans change. Things will work out or not, my life is so fucked up that I can't really say that I should be surprised about the latest events. I was blindsided once more and I will not let that happen again."

Harry grabbed a sandwich from the tray and, with a smile on his face, started eating. Severus sat and watched him, he loved the way Harry always ate slow and enjoyed his food, although he now knew that it came from his relatives not feeding him properly and then him learning he didn't have to gulp his food down before it was taken from him again. Severus really hated those muggles. Once again he was reminded that he needed to get the young man out of there.

Harry snatched a pumpkin pastie from the tray and started to savor one of his favorite treats. Then he turned a worried looking face back to the professor wondering why the elves served something that was not usually on the older man's diet. Severus didn't usually eat sweets and the elves were not in the habit of serving them to him. Did they know he was here after all and who else was reporting his whereabouts to the manipulative old coot. He would have to be more careful, people were trying to serve him love potions and who knew what else. He focused his attention back to the pastry in his hand and asked, "Severus, do you usually eat these? Why did the elves put this on the platter?"

"I told them that I was expecting a guest and needed some of the pastries from dinner. This was on the menu, don't worry Harry, I already tested the food before I brought the tray in here with a spell that reveals any potions or spells on the food."

Harry smiled at that, eyes sparkling with humor and relief saying, "Always taking care of me, huh, Sev?"

"I try, Harry, I try. You do present a challenge though." The older man smirked at him with a hint of affection on his stern face.

Harry finished his treat and settled down in the chair with his tea. He had a plan, sort of, but didn't know how to approach the subject with Severus. Well, was he a Gryffindor or wasn't he.

"Severus, if we were already bonded what would the love potion do? Would I be able to fight it?"

"Harry, although very little is known about the bond between soul mates, I can tell you that we would share powers, feelings and in some cases it has been said that you can also share thoughts." Severus went into teaching mode with a closed expression on his face. The one that said he was concentrating and for Harry to just listen and ask questions later. "The soul mate bonding is the most sacred of all bonds and involves the mating of the two. If the mating is between two inexperienced parties, the bond is strong immediately. If the mating is between one experienced and one inexperienced partner the bond can be even stronger as the experienced partner knows how to please and protect the submissive partner. If the bond is between two experienced partners, the bond will be slower to come to fullness knowing that they are more independent and will block out needs to the partner. This sometimes retards the making of the bond and often will delay complete bonding for months or even a few years. This is why I have been telling Albus for years that we need to have sex education classes. With so many muggleborns attending Hogwarts, it really makes it hard on those that would be soul mates. It is a very powerful thing and should be preserved." Severus paused in his litany of information about bonds. He then focused on Harry "Why do you want to know all this?"

Harry, sitting there trying not to be nervous, suddenly blurted out, "Iwantustobond"

"Harry, take a deep breath, calm down and repeat what you just said, slower this time so I can understand you." Severus's obsidian gaze was shining with amusement. Harry breathed deeply a few times before repeating what he said, he was so nervous that his palms were sweating and his heart was racing; he closed his eyes trying to calm down his breathing and his nerves.

"I want us to bond," he said slowly anxiously watching for Severus's reaction.

"We will bond eventually, Harry, it's what soul mates do. But we need to spend more time together and you need to be a little older." Severus looked lovingly toward Harry and the past worries flitted through his mind again. Harry was too young, he could find someone better and he didn't need an old ex-death eater like him. "Did you have a date in mind?"

"Um, yeah, tonight" he said hesitantly, not really able to meet Severus's eyes at the moment. His heart pounding again and his green eyes full of hope and fear. Hope that Severus would agree to this and fear that he would not. Right now the fear was taking over in his heart and he so desperately wanted his mate to desire him and to be with him.

"What?! What possible reason could you have for bonding right now when you are only fifteen years old? I was thinking we would do this sometime after you graduate." Severus could not believe what Harry was saying. It was too soon and he couldn't possibly know he wanted to be tied to him for the rest of his life. Bond or no bond, Harry just was not old enough to make these kinds of decisions. Bond tonight, what was the boy thinking?

"But that's a little over two years from now. I don't want to wait that long."

"Harry, is this about the love potion that the Weasley chit is trying to shove down your throat?" The older man's dark eyes were shadowed and there was a glint of disappointment mixed in with a little anger.

"No, this is more than that. First, the love potion was more Dumbledore's idea, from what I gathered from the conversations I eavesdropped on, but it is so much more than that. I have to go back to the Dursley's and once again put up with their stupidity. I have a psychotic megalomaniac after me; I have a meddling old fool and a bunch of people who think I am their every answer for money in their pockets, people that want to see me dead, but only after I kill said megalomaniac. I need something, just one thing to keep me going. That one thing is you, Severus. I know that I love you even though I have never said that to anyone before. I have never had feelings like I have for you, and I want to know if you feel the same. I want to experience, just once, what it is like to have someone to just like me for me. I am so tired of being the Boy-Who-Lived, the one who has to defeat Voldemort. Who knows if I am even going to be alive next week? Can you say that you know for sure you will?" Harry pleaded his case with anguish in his eyes and passion in his heart. He wanted Severus to understand what he was saying and at the same time wasn't sure how to express the tidal wave of feelings running through his body.

Harry paused with a heavy sigh and continued, "I can't even begin to tell you how much the Dursleys love to abuse me. I need something good to dream about. Not Sirius falling through the veil, not Cedric getting hit with the killing curse, not Wormtail betraying my parents, not the absence of Remus because he blames me for his friend's demise."

"Harry, just stop, come here." Severus got up, held out his arms and pulled his slighter soul mate into a hug, "None of that was your fault." Severus gently rubbed circles on the young man's back as he firmly held him against his chest.

"I know Sev, but the nightmares are still there and I can't take Dreamless Sleep all the time. It already doesn't work as well as it used to and there is a good chance that I might get addicted if I have too many doses. I am so tired all the time and I need some rest." Even now, he was leaning against Severus as if all his energy had leeched out of his body and he didn't have any reserve energy to continue standing.

"You can stay here tonight, but I am not willing to consummate our bond just yet. You need to be older and sure that this is what you want." Severus desperately hoped Harry would understand and not take this as a rejection. Joining into a soul mate bond was not a decision to be entered into because of outside dangers. The union should be from a loving and mutual appreciation of each other.

"Severus, please just let me sleep with you. We don't have to do anything, but don't send me back into the lion's den tonight. Those people are trying to enslave me. They keep trying to hurt me. I just can't sleep there tonight." As soon as he heard about the love potion, Severus had already decided that his soul mate was _absolutely not_ staying in Gryffindor tower. He was not letting those people hurt _his_ Harry if he could help it.

"All right, Harry, you can sleep here with me tonight. I agree you are not safe in the Gryffindor rooms right now. But we will sleep. I do not want us bonding because of outside pressure when you are not ready." Harry thought he was ready but he could see the determined glint in Severus's eyes and knew not to argue at this point. Besides, he had to admit Severus had a point, he was underage. However, as soon as he turned sixteen, it would not be illegal for him to have a relationship with the older man. He just needed to find a way to convince his mate about the idea.

"Severus, what happens if they manage to feed me a love potion before the bond is in place? It would be so easy to put it in my breakfast or juice." Harry looked like he was going to start panicking again. Severus tried to placate his anxious soul-mate.

"Harry, you must settle down, you just need to get into the habit of testing your food. We both are very tired now but I will show you a simple spell in the morning that will allow you to find out if anything is in your food that should not be there." Severus had his arms around Harry and slowly led him to the bedroom. Actually, if he thought Harry was ready, he would love to bond with the younger man. But he was only fifteen and Severus didn't feel that he was ready. Yes, he knew that many of the students had sex when they were that age and some even younger, but this was a bonding and not casual sex. It was a life changing decision that Harry needed to think carefully about first.

Severus pulled some sleep pants from the dresser and handed them to the younger man. Harry took one look at them and snorted, "Black, I should have known."

"Did you want another color?" A dark brow rose in question.

Harry with a mischievous glint in his eye said, "Red?"

"Not on your life, there will be no red in this room!" Harry snickered at the look on the older man's face. He really was hypersensitive about color and red especially. It was fun to watch the indignant expression that appeared instantly the word red came out of his mouth.

They got dressed in their respective night clothes and crawled into bed. With Severus's arm around Harry's shoulders and Harry half laying on his mates chest they slowly drifted off into a deep sleep, both snuggled up together with a smile on their faces.


	6. The Night Visitor Returns

The Third Time is a Charm

Summary:

A child was born to return the pureblood ways of long ago, what would you do to save him? His inheritance stolen and his friends are traitors who can he turn to? Strangers appear - friend or foe? Warn-language, child abuse, M/M SS/HP AD/RW/HG bashing

Explicit sex scenes, Severus will be VERY OOC and a host of other characters.

Disclaimer: I do not own or have interest in any of the Harry Potter universe. I admire J. K. Rowling for entertaining us with her world of make believe. I do not make any money from writing this story, I just like to have fun and borrow her characters for a while and I promise to return them when I am finished.

I want to thank my wonderful beta Lex for her great support and encouragement. I don't think this could have happened without her.

Chapter 6: The Night Visitor Returns

Severus and Harry were sleeping peacefully, wrapped together as if they were one. Harry was curled into Severus' side with his leg crossed over the older man's and his head resting on a lean but strong chest, comforted by the strong heart beat. The quiet rhythm drumming out a regular tattoo, or summons, calling Harry to stay with him and keeping him focused on the wonder of being together chasing the nightmares into the shadows.

The older of the soul mates had his arms wrapped around the younger, holding him firmly around his shoulders, unconsciously reveling in the slight weight against his side and chest. The warmth from the other body suffused itself into his heart and he knew, even in his sleep, that he desperately wanted to share a lifetime with this young man. He knew he didn't deserve it and at the same time he knew he could not keep his heart closed off from this young man,_ his _young mate. For the first time in over twenty years, in spite of the machinations of the old coot, he could allow himself to hope for better things. He heaved a small but nonetheless contented sigh and pulled Harry a little closer curving his body slightly into Harry's as if to silently protect him from the shadows and terrors of the night.

While they were sleeping, a fog came from the outer recesses of their minds. The young woman appeared to them while they were in the sitting room. She looked fondly upon Severus as he was lazily perched in his favorite chair with Harry in his favorite position on Severus's lap. Harry was resting his cheek against the crook of the older man's neck; he felt like the spot was made just for him since it was perfect for his height. Severus' arm around his waist was the icing on top of the cake.

She had been coming all week but was not sure the connection was successful. The young woman wanted them to remember her and trust her, it was vital to her plan. If they did not trust her when she arrived, she didn't know how to save the situation.

"Severus," she said to get his attention; her voice was slightly lyrical and made the man feel surrounded with love and affection. "I will be coming soon to help save him. Please trust me to help you with the current suffering that is so much a part of your lives. He will need both of us to survive and succeed." Severus noticed this time that her eyes were very familiar, so like Lily's and yet her hair was jet black and straight, hanging down her back past her waist, looking so silky it could have been a waterfall cascading over her shoulders. "Please remember me, Severus." She repeated, "The third time is a charm that can only be used once and I will need your help to save the child."

"What child?" Severus asked the woman, but she was already fading away. The connection was not holding any longer and he was confused. She was not anyone he ever remembered meeting, but she had seemed so familiar. He began fighting the deep sleep he was in so he could think about the dream. He needed to write it down so he could analyze the different aspects of the vision to understand it further. As he started to wake up, he tried to keep as still as possible so as not to awake Harry too. His beryl eyed brat was sleeping so soundly and dreadfully needed that sleep, that he was reluctant to make even the slightest move for fear of disturbing him.

Little did he know, but Harry was having his own dream at the same time.

"Harry," she said to get his attention. "I will come when you need me most. Please, Harry, know that you can trust me for I have been sent to help you. The time is drawing closer but you must trust me and let me help. The third time is a charm that can only be used once." She looked straight into Harry's eyes and said again, "It is imperative that you remember that I was sent to help." Harry saw her eyes look familiar, almost like his, actually exactly like his but her long hair was silky and black as ink. At first he thought she was his mother, but that couldn't be right. Although she looked similar, she did not have the right hair and there were subtle differences from his mother. Her eyes though were full of honesty and love. He didn't know where the woman came from but she seemed to be someone he could trust. He was being filled with the same sensation he felt when Severus held him in his arms.

Harry was climbing out of his deep sleep about the same time as Severus. They each woke simultaneously and blinked away the sleep from their eyes, while wondering what time it was. It was still dark in the bedroom but, of course, they were in the dungeons beneath the castle and away from the light. Severus very gently pulled his arm away from the warmth at his side to reach for his wand on the bedside table.

"Tempus," he whispered as silently as he could, still fuzzy with sleep or he probably would have remembered he could have done the spell silently. The numbers in the air read three in the morning.

Harry stirred slightly at his side and murmured sleepily, "What time's it?" But even as he said it, he snuggled back into Severus' warmth.

"It is three in the morning, love." Severus mumbled an answer as he put his arm back around Harry. Sleep trying to overtake him once more. "I didn't mean to wake you, go back to sleep." Even as he said that he knew he should record the dream. He remembered it this time, although he didn't know exactly what it meant. For the first time since Harry started to find out about the treachery of Dumbledore and his friends, Severus didn't feel as if he had to protect Harry all on his own. He didn't know who the young woman was or where she came from, but he did know she radiated honesty and affection for the two soul mates. He felt it with every fiber of his being.

"Woke up Sev, had a dream. A woman, need to trust her, something about a third time charm and saving me. Don't remember anything else and don't know who she is, but she has eyes like mine. Now, go back to sleep." Harry mumbled as he was still foggy from sleep but he at least got the words out to let Severus know why he woke. It was the first time in a long time he had dreamt anything pleasant and felt hope in his heart.

Severus pulled Harry closer in his arms and gently rubbed his chin on Harry's head, "I know Harry," he said. "I had that dream too." They each sighed softly; back in their original positions and let the dream lull them back to sleep.

Severus was the first to hear the loud buzzing noise the next morning. At first he didn't realize what it was as he rarely ever slept until the alarm went off. In fact he could not remember the last time that happened. He very slowly extricated himself away from Harry so he could call for breakfast in the next room before the young man woke up.

Severus used the floo in the sitting room to call the kitchens for a small breakfast. He didn't tell them he had a visitor, as they always sent enough food for four people even when he was alone. When the food arrived he went into the bedroom to wake Harry. The rest of the students would be rising in about an hour and he wanted to get him out of there before he was missed, if he wasn't missed already.

Severus stopped at the doorway and gazed at the man sleeping in his bed. Harry had cuddled up with his arms around Severus's pillow and snuggled back into the bedclothes. He could wake up to this sight for the rest of his life and he knew it was more than just a wish. It was a desire that had infiltrated his heart and took root at the deepest levels of his being. How Harry had managed to worm his way into the depths of his soul so quickly, he would never know, but that was his Harry.

Now, how to wake the boy wonder, Severus smiled and stealthily walked over to the bed and looked down to see the lush black lashes against the pale skin of the high cheekbones that reminded him of Lily. When he really thought about it, Harry looked like Lily a lot more than James; he only had inherited his father's hair and poor eyesight. The older man bent over and barely brushed his lips against Harry's eyes. Then he brushed his lips against the young man's cheek, then his lips. "Harry," he spoke softly, "its time to wake up, love."

"Hmmh…" was the only response he received. Severus smirked and started to pull the covers away from the sleepy young man in the bed with a firm tug.

"Hmmh, no, cold…" he made a garbled response while turning over and cuddling on the other side with his arms still around the pillow and pulling the covers to wrap around him. At least he was starting to say whole recognizable words if not a complete sentence yet. Severus pulled a little harder on the covers and repeated "Harry", this time a little louder, "its time to wake up. Come on love."

Now Severus had a good view of his soul mate's pouty lips and could not resist. They often kissed when alone but the older man now was having a hard time staying away from that mouth. Suddenly it hit him like a kick in the stomach, he wanted Harry, desperately. He took a deep breath, retaining control over his hormones, and tried to wake Harry again.

"Come on love, you need to wake up and have breakfast." He decided a new tactic was needed. "Potter, get out of that bed!" he shouted in his ear. Harry's eyes shot open and he looked at Severus. For a minute he didn't understand why Severus was waking him up, and then he remembered yesterday. He sat up in the bed and blinked a few times, rubbed his eyes with the heel of his palm and looked at Severus.

"Mornin," he mumbled, still trying to take in his surroundings. "Bathroom?" Severus smirked at the obviously befuddled young man and said, "It's this way." He led Harry to the bathroom that the young Gryffindor had used at least a dozen times before but couldn't seem to find now. Severus pushed Harry through the bathroom door and told him there was an extra toothbrush in the cabinet. As he closed the door, Severus heard the shower going and knowing Harry would be a while before he finished, he placed a warming charm on the breakfast at the table.

It was fifteen minutes later when Harry emerged from the steamy bathroom. Clad in the clothes he had worn yesterday that Severus had used a cleaning charm on and left in the bathroom for him to wear. He grinned at Severus when he entered the kitchen and sat down next to him at the table.

"Good morning, Severus." Harry said cheerfully. "How are you this morning?"

"Good morning, Harry." Severus replied. "Not a morning person?"

"Actually, I had a strange dream last night and had a hard time waking up. Usually I get up before all the others in the dorm and have my shower before they even stir from their beds."

Severus knew that was because he often awoke from nightmares, but Harry looked very well rested this morning and he was thankful for that. He hoped that his mate could get a few more nights like that at least for this week. Last week he looked like death and as if he had been punched with the dark circles under his eyes from the severe lack of sleep.

"Harry, I had breakfast brought here so we could go over the spell to check your food." Severus changed the subject abruptly, they were running out of time as the students were starting to wake up to have breakfast and get to the train. Today Harry was leaving on the train with the rest of the student body and Severus did not want him to be unprepared.

"You will have to eat breakfast in the Great Hall with the other students to throw off suspicions they might have about you missing. I want you to eat here so you don't have to eat much more than toast. You need to keep up pretenses when you are in the Great Hall but you don't know what might be in your food." Afterward Severus showed him the spell and they practiced it a few times until Severus was satisfied that Harry could do the spell correctly without any problem. "Now, don't eat anything on the train you didn't buy yourself and get from the trolley personally." The older man said as he was still worried about his young mate.

"You should probably sneak back into Gryffindor tower and then act as if you have been there the whole night. Did you ward your bed so everyone would think you were sleeping?"

"Of, course, but I bet Ron was upset when he went back to the dorm and found my bed curtains closed and he couldn't open them. Justice is a fine thing," a triumphant smirk twitched his lips in a half smile. Severus mirrored the smirk with a proud glint in his eyes; his soul mate was getting more and more Slytherin by the minute.

"Alright, as much as I wish it wasn't so, you need to get going but remember I will meet you at King's Cross this evening when the train arrives. You haven't forgotten what we discussed have you?" Severus asked.

"No, I haven't forgotten" he answered. Harry stood up and collected his cloak so he could get through the halls without detection. Severus stood next to him and put an arm around him, stealing a kiss at the same time. The older man only meant the kiss to be a quick goodbye, but Harry started to respond like never before and opened his mouth inviting Severus to explore his mouth. Within seconds a fire was blazing between the two and Severus took the kiss deeper. The taste of Harry's mouth was heaven, a strange mixture of mint and the pastry that Harry had eaten earlier. This was not the time for this, he kept repeating in his head even as he was glorified that the kiss was started by Harry and that meant he must at least desire him on some level.

Severus eased out of the kiss a few minutes later, his heart pounding with the variety of emotions and adrenaline coursing through his veins. "Harry," he hoarsely said, "you have to go before I can't let you go."

"Sounds good to me, I like it here with you," said the young man with a glazed, desire-ridden stare. Harry gave Severus another quick kiss and shrouded himself in the cloak to go out the door. "Okay, let's do this."

When Severus opened the door to leave for the Great Hall, he left it open a little longer than usual so that Harry could slip out with him. Harry rushed up to Gryffindor tower and slipped into the common room as someone else was leaving, then ran up the stairs to his dorm. He unwarded his bed, threw the bed curtains open and headed for the bathroom. After splashing water on his face and hair and taking a towel so it looked as if he had just taken a shower, he walked back into the dorm room. Neville came through the door at the same time.

"There you are Harry, we were wondering if you were going to wake up."

"Sorry Neville." Harry said, his muffled voice coming from under the towel as he dried his hair. "Nightmares you know; about Sirius… didn't want to disturb you guys so I warded my bed with silencing charms. I didn't mean to worry you."

"No worries, Harry. Come on, let's go get some breakfast." Neville replied going with Harry to the Great Hall.

Finally everyone was on the train and off to King's Cross Station in London. Harry stayed quiet as Neville, Ginny, Luna and Ron sat in the compartment. Neville discretely told Ron that Harry was still upset about his godfather and was having nightmares so most everyone else left him alone. Harry did remember to mention his relatives were busy and a neighbor was picking him up from the station.

Harry, for the most part, spent his time thinking about Severus and the kiss this morning. Then he spent some time thinking about the conversations he eavesdropped on and what the others had said about him. Then he started to think about his dream, he remembered some of the dream but not all of it. He tried to remember more but the dream kept eluding him at the back of his mind. He thought Severus said something about having the same dream; maybe they could talk about it later. As this thought went through his mind he thought about the kiss once more and started the whole routine over again.

Before he knew it, they were arriving in London and it was time to leave the train. Harry hoped that he would be able to recognize Severus. They didn't have much time to discuss how he would be disguised.


	7. Gringotts

The Third Time is a Charm

I now have 50 people that have listed me for a story alert, author alert or favorite author. Thank you everyone for the trust you have put in me to get this story out. I am very appreciative of everyones reviews also. And don't worry, there is much more to come.

Summary:

A child was born to return the pureblood ways of long ago, what would you do to save him? His inheritance stolen and his friends are traitors who can he turn to? Strangers appear-friend or foe Warn-language, child abuse, M/M SS/HP AD/RW/HG bashing

Explicit sex scenes, Severus will be OOC and a host of other characters.

Disclaimer: I do not own or have interest in any of the Harry Potter universe. I admire J. K. Rowling for entertaining us with her world of make believe. I do not make any money from writing this story, I just like to have fun and borrow her characters for a while.

I want to thank my wonderful beta Lex for her great support and encouragement. I don't think this could have happened without her.

Chapter 7: Gringotts

The Hogwarts Express was pulling into King's Cross Station later that afternoon and even though Harry had seen Severus just this morning, he was already anxious to see him again. He knew Gringotts was to be their first stop as soon as they could elude the hangers-on from the Wizarding World. Harry went through the barrier from Nine and Three Quarters only to be confronted by Moody and the Weasley parents. They saw him immediately and moved forward to greet him, converging on him without giving him the option of escape.

"What are you guys doing here?" Harry asked apprehensively. He was a little worried that they might be here to circumvent the plans that he and Severus had painstakingly made. He actually knew why the Weasleys were there, to pick up their own children, but why were they in front of him instead of greeting their own kids? He did not know why Moody was there either, it just didn't make sense.

Moody stepped forward and stated in that gravely voice of his, "We are here to speak with those muggle relatives of yours, boy." Moody was sporting a bowler hat that he pulled down over his roving fake eye and looked more like a gangster from the nineteen-twenties America than actually blending in with the mass of people around them.

"I am sorry, Professor," Harry said quietly, "my uncle is not picking me up. He is sending a neighbor in his place because he is currently on a business trip. Apparently my aunt refused to come without her husband." Harry took a deep breath and started erecting Occlumency shields. He just knew Moody would be able to tell he was not being truthful. He didn't like the way the older man was staring at him; it was making him feel very uncomfortable.

The Weasley parents, being the boisterous people they were, barreled past Moody who spun around to keep his balance, so they could give Harry a very overenthusiastic hug. Poor Moody almost lost his hat as he was spinning around and Harry had the urge to laugh at the paranoid Auror. He was trying to balance on his fake leg while spinning around holding his bowler hat in place. When the Weasleys got to Harry, he grunted as they almost knocked him down. While they hugged him, it was uncomfortable and he felt slightly put out knowing the Weasleys had accepted his money from Dumbledore. He gave them a brief hug back and carefully extricated himself from the smothering arms. How could they really greet him that way and face him after what they had done? But then Harry reminded himself that they had been doing that for years. Then again, maybe they greeted him that way _because _they were receiving his money.

Severus was watching from about six meters away, sitting on a bench waiting for Harry to emerge from the barrier. When he saw the trio of Order members, he stayed put and surreptitiously kept an eye on him from his position, not moving at all so as not to bring any unwanted attention. Why did Gryffindors have to make such a scene? He wondered what was going on and if he was going to have to intervene.

Moody regained his balance and stood in front of Harry again, looking at him with a hard stare. "What do you mean, you uncle is not picking you up? We did not authorize anyone else to be here to get you." He blustered rather loudly and was starting to attract some rather strange stares from the muggles milling around.

"I am sorry, sir. I didn't know I was supposed to let anyone know. My uncle had a business trip and hasn't returned yet. He will be back tomorrow. There is a neighbor that is coming to bring me to my aunt's house." Harry said quietly, praying with every fiber of his being that he could get rid of these people and they would not know he was meeting Severus.

Just as a disguised Severus got up from the bench and gave Harry an almost imperceptible nod, Moody was demanding to know where this neighbor was. Harry pointed to a man with white hair, wrinkly skin dressed in an old blue shirt with a jacket that hung on his body as if he lost a lot of weight recently. His beige pants were clean but worn and he had on rather tatty sports shoes. Nice costume, Harry thought.

Moody and the Weasleys looked in the direction that Harry was pointing and back at Harry. "That is your neighbor?" Moody asked with disbelief in his voice.

"Yes sir." Harry answered then improvised a little, "He lives a few houses down from Mrs. Figg." Harry was thinking 'please let this work, please let this work,' like a mantra to any deity out there that might be of some help.

"Huh." Moody mumbled, "I guess he doesn't look too bad for a muggle, but I don't trust him. Constant vigilance, remember that boy." Harry really hated to be called "boy" in that tone and he wished Moody would stop that. He was not a child and sometimes he almost sounded like Uncle Vernon.

"Yes sir." Harry replied as meekly as he could. Better let them think that he was still the innocent naïve child that they could manipulate without him knowing any better.

"You can go now boy, we don't want to get anymore attention than we have already. You tell your uncle that we will be meeting with him shortly." Moody turned to the others and said that they should be leaving and will check on Harry tomorrow. "You, boy, stay in the house and don't leave it. No going anywhere until we know it is safe."

"Tomorrow, we are supposed to leave the house and visit my Aunt Marge, sir." Harry said as politely as possible. "That's Uncle Vernon's sister and she is expecting us. If I were you, I would try possibly later this week; you might be able to speak with them then." Harry kept his head down as he was speaking, his heart was pounding, and he didn't want anyone to catch him in the lie. He also didn't want anyone catching him with Severus, and they had to get to Gringotts.

"You're just all kinds of trouble, aren't you, boy?" Moody started in on Harry, "we can't rearrange our schedule to fit your summer plans." Harry didn't like Moody's attitude. He was really starting to sound like Uncle Vernon and he couldn't, after all this time, understand _why_ Moody wanted to speak to his uncle.

"I am sorry, Professor Moody." Harry replied slowly, hoping his words would not be taken the wrong way. "I didn't know anyone wanted to speak with my relatives, they never have before, or I would have asked them to be available." Harry then lifted his eyes to the older man and waited to see his response. He tried to make his eyes and expression as sincerely chastised as possible, much like the guilty schoolboy they think he was.

"You need to get going home and we will be in contact with you soon." Moody snarled. "Where is your trunk so you can get ready to leave?"

"I shrunk my trunk at school. My Uncle doesn't like my things from school lying around and won't let me have them so it can stay that way until it is time to go back." Harry said honestly. He wondered what Moody would think of that.

"Then off you go, boy, don't be hanging around here for longer than you have to." Moody turned at that and the Weasleys stepped up to hug Harry again, said their goodbyes and they all left. Harry kept watching them to make sure they were leaving before walking over to the old man sitting at the bench. Severus nodded to him but didn't say anything. Harry took the hint and also stayed silent. Severus made an undetectable jerk of his head toward the bathroom not far from the bench where he was sitting. Harry nodded and followed him to the loo.

Upon entering the loo, Severus checked carefully to see if anyone was in the stalls. He headed for the last in the line and pulled Harry in with him. He threw a monitoring alarm at the door and erected a privacy ward in the stall. "Now, Harry, we can talk until someone comes in but don't want to be seen coming from the stall together, it might get us some unwanted attention. What was all that about with Moody? I didn't expect them to be here and I feared that they somehow knew about our plans." Severus said. They were standing very close in the stall and only had to speak in whispers to keep their conversation as private as possible. Severus kept his voice low as he wanted to take all precautions feasible.

Harry looked up to Severus and whispered back earnestly, "I don't know what they really wanted; he said he had to talk to my Uncle and he was here to do just that, he and the Weasleys. They have never tried to speak with my relatives before, so why now? I don't like this, Severus. This never happened before and this change does not feel right. I think something else is going on. Should we go to Gringotts or should we put it off?"

Severus paused a moment to think of a new plan. "Do you have your cloak with you?"

Harry nodded his head yes but then informed Severus, "Won't work, Moody can see through it."

Severus raised an eyebrow at that but started thinking again. "We will have to disguise you and I will have to use a different glamour from this one." Severus got out his wand and started waving it around changing their eyes, nose, mouth and hair. Harry now had reddish brown hair, overly pouty lips, and brown eyes. Severus had blonde hair, blue eyes and a pug nose. They both were now in blue jeans with different button down shirts and new trainers. "There, that should do it"

Just as he finished his 'adjustments', there was a crowd of people that come in. Harry and Severus quickly left the stall before anyone could notice and waited for part of the group to finish. When a few of the men left at one time they followed, then made for the closest exit at the station. They walked for about five blocks before slipping into an alley. Severus looked at Harry and said "Hold on," then Side-Apparated Harry to Diagon Alley.

Once they arrived in the busy shopping district, they darted through the back alleys until they reached Gringotts bank. When they went in, they got the attention of a few Goblins (probably detecting the charms changing their appearance), one of which came over to them immediately. As the Goblin approached, Severus and Harry met him halfway.

"We need a private meeting room, please." Then Harry recognized the goblin that had approached them. It was the same Goblin that had helped him last year when he came in to make his annual withdrawal. "Hello, Gorbink." Harry said in a quiet whisper, "It's me, Harry Potter. Do you remember?" Gorbink slightly nodded his head and motioned for them to follow him to a private meeting room.

Severus followed about three steps behind the wizened old goblin and under his breath, told his soul mate, "What are you doing, Harry? He could be on Dumbledore's side or in his pocket. You should not let anyone know who you are till you get a promise of secrecy from him."

Harry nodded at Severus and said, "He helped me the last time I was here and I trust him." Severus rolled his eyes and noticed the goblin go into a meeting room he had never seen before. Harry trusted far too many people and too easily. He needed to learn not to do that and quickly before someone else took advantage of him. Severus was thinking, as they walked through the door to have a discussion with the goblin. What did Harry call him, Gorbink?

Gorbink sat down behind a beautiful mahogany desk six feet long, three feet deep, with a glossy shine in the wood from years of earnest polishing. Severus and Harry sat down in the two elegant but comfortable chairs in front of the desk. They were made with highly polished wood with carvings all down the arms and around the cushioned back and seat. They were unusual but obviously antique and looked to be very valuable.

"Now, Mr. Potter, we will have to establish your identity before I discuss anything with you. We can't speak with just anyone about your accounts." Harry turned to Severus with an asking look on his face. Severus spoke up next." We first need an oath that nothing we do or say here will be revealed to anyone other than the three of us and not outside this room lest anyone use polyjuice or some other means of copying Harry's or my identity." Severus demanded of the goblin before discussing their current situation.

Gorbink gave them a smile that revealed entirely too many sharp teeth for both the wizards' liking and nodded his head, pulled a contract and two pieces of parchment out of the drawer for all three of them to sign. "First, we will establish your identity, then all of us will sign the contract and none of us may discuss this with anyone else. A drop of blood on this parchment will be enough to reveal your identity, there is one for each of you." Gorbink then placed a dagger on the desktop for Harry and Severus to use. Severus first took out his wand and cancelled the charms he placed on them earlier before taking up the ceremonial dagger then pricking his thumb he let a few drops of his blood drop on the parchment.

_Severus Tobias Snape_

Born February 5, 1960 to Tobias Nathan Snape and Eileen Elizabeth Snape nee Prince

Dominant soul mate of Harry James Potter

When the last line appeared, Severus didn't say anything but Harry could see his eyebrow slightly elevate in surprise. Gorbink then cleaned the dagger with a quick spell and handed the blade to Harry. Harry mimicked the actions that Severus made just moments before and waited.

_Harry James Potter_

Born July 31, 1980 to James Harold Potter and Lily Potter nee Evans

Submissive soul mate of Severus Tobias Snape.

Gorbink then brought forward the contract proclaiming the utmost secrecy for this meeting. Gorbink had his own reason for secrecy and he was about to show them more than they had planned.

The goblin sat behind the desk and contemplated on what to tell them first. He knew why they were here and had, in fact, been the one to send the statements to Severus in the first place. "Mr. Potter and Mr. Snape, we will be here several hours and I would like to know if you require any refreshments? We should, perhaps, have sandwiches and tea brought in?" Before Severus could answer in the affirmative, Harry was nodding and the goblin got up, spoke with someone at the door and then returned to his place behind the desk. About five minutes later, another goblin came in with a tray filled with finger sandwiches, pastries and a tea service for three. The other goblin put the tray down, bowed to Gorbink and then left the room. When the door shut, Gorbink made a small hand movement and the door was sealed and even Harry could feel the magic warding the room. It was nothing like he had felt before.

"This room, gentleman," Gorbink started, "is a time displacement room. Twenty four hours in this room can be likened to an equivalent of one hour spent outside. We will be here for several hours but outside and to everyone else; you only have been here for about ten minutes. No one is to discuss the existence of this part of Gringotts. It is reserved for very few and can only stay secure when we limit the number of people who know about it. The contract you signed works both ways gentlemen, you will not discuss with anyone about this room and I will not discuss with anyone about your current situation." Harry and Severus inclined their heads in assent; they were in fact grateful for this added bonus. This way if they were followed no one would think they had received any information. It took longer than ten minutes just to go to a vault.

"How is that possible?" Harry asked the goblin in amazement.

"Now is not the time to go into this, we need to discuss other matters first," the goblin replied. He pulled out a large folder of account statements and other parchments, and then he pulled out another one with even more parchments. Harry and Severus just watched as Gorbink quickly got organized and started giving them the information they had come to obtain.

"Harry, when your parents died, Dumbledore had the Wizengamot appoint him your magical guardian. This was actually against the statutes of wizarding law but was allowed nonetheless because of the influence the headmaster exudes over everyone else. He then was able to get guardianship over certain accounts that belong to you. This was also against wizarding law as it is a conflict of interest. No member of the Wizengamot, according to statute nine sixteen passed March third in nineteen-o-two, is allowed to have access of any orphan's accounts. Also according to said statute, all influences are to be given to an appointed guardian or guardians by the parents or voted on by the courts if one is not appointed. Nowhere does it give recourse if said guardian is incarcerated. Meaning Sirius Black had always been and remained your guardian until his death and all expenditures should have been approved by him even from within Azkaban walls." The goblin waited for Harry to process the information before continuing.

And so the meeting went, Harry learning more about wizarding law and information on his parents than he ever thought he would. His accounts had been robbed; there was no way around explaining it. People being paid as guards, entertainment, vacations, tutors, extra school fees for extra classes, clothes, optometrist fees, even tickets for the world cup in fourth year, everything he needed and none of which he ever had. Not one thing. Almost a million galleons later and everyone but Harry benefited. After hours of information absorbing, Gorbink sat back in the chair and looked at the two men in front of him.

"What are we allowed to do since Harry is still underage and we are not yet bonded? Severus asked. In the last few hours, his trust in the old goblin had risen astronomically. The goblin not only knows about the accounts and what was taken, he was very knowledgeable about wizard laws and what was legal and what was not. He had admitted he did not have charge of the accounts and had not seen them during the past fifteen years. It was not until Harry's letter arrived that an investigation was launched and Gorbink was given the manager position temporarily until Harry was of age and could suggest his own manager if he wanted to choose.

"It is not exactly legal for Harry to do it, but I would suggest he clean out all his vaults and take all of his valuables and money out of Gringotts. He has two bottomless trunks that have the ability to be shrunk and taken out of here and it would not be stealing because it already belongs to Harry. You Severus are listed as his bonded, whether you have actually done so or not. You could sign this form for the removal of all items in Harry's vault for protection. This way you would be ready for what comes next and have everything with you." The goblin paused to make sure he had their attention, and then said, "There is a woman coming to save the child and the third time charm can only be used once." The goblin then continued, grinning at them. "You are not the only ones with dreams"

Harry and Severus sat there absolutely stunned.


	8. Bonding

The Third Time is a Charm

Summary:

A child was born to return the pureblood ways of long ago, what would you do to save him? His inheritance stolen and his friends are traitors who can he turn to? Strangers appear-friend or foe Warn-language, child abuse, M/M SS/HP AD/RW/HG bashing

Explicit sex scenes, Severus will be OOC and a host of other characters.

Disclaimer: I do not own or have interest in any of the Harry Potter universe. I admire J. K. Rowling for entertaining us with her world of make believe. I do not make any money from writing this story, I just like to have fun and borrow her characters for a while.

I want to thank my wonderful beta Lex for her great support and encouragement. I don't think this could have happened without her.

Chapter 8: Bonding

Moody wasn't sure about the identity of the redheaded young man who had gone into Gringotts, he suspected it was Harry Potter in disguise but there was no substantial evidence to prove his assumptions correct. He remembered seeing the boy go into the loo but when the group of men went in and came out, he lost track of him. When they both left Gringotts fifteen minutes after arriving, he knew they didn't have time to do anything but maybe exchange some funds at the counter. He relaxed a bit with at this, Dumbledore had told him Harry was to stay away from the bank and go straight to the muggles house, but the boy didn't know that and his Uncle wasn't home (Moody checked). Surely the boy would need some money for the summer and this could not be as big of a security problem Dumbledore made it to be.

Harry and Severus, with the charms back in place to change their appearance, quickly made their way to the Leaky Cauldron. There, they were able to procure a room from Tom for the night and obtain the privacy they needed. The couple was shocked at the amount of information they had received. Nearly six hours in that room and then to come out of it, only to realise that only fifteen minutes had passed; needless to say, they were amazed. Not only did they get all the information they needed, they were also able to stop all the acts of thefts by emptying the contents of Harry's vaults.

Gorbink had actually been prepared for them and already accomplished the emptying of all the young heir's vaults before they arrived. They even found out more information about Harry. He was an heir of all four founders as well as Sirius Black and they had vaults also. As Gorbink proved his inheritance with another blood and magic ritual in the time room, they were able to take all the valuables from there too. They did wonder how Gorbink knew this before they arrived but decided not to ask, and actually the goblin seem to know more information than he was revealing. Harry now had seven trunks all shrunken to take with him. They were spelled with goblin magic against theft or damage of any kind. If lost or stolen, they would automatically return to the owner. It seemed that Dumbledore did not know about him being an heir to the founders, or he was not able to get access to those vaults but for whatever reason, the founders' and Sirius' vaults had remained untouched. Harry was thankful they were able to stop the flow of his funds before the headmaster got into the Black vault. He probably didn't have time yet and would be surprised when he tried.

He also found out that a few of the Order members were living in some of his estate holdings for free, supposedly in exchange for guard duty. No one had ever helped him when he was being beaten by Dudley or abused by his relatives, but they were being paid to watch him. Harry wished he could see the looks on their faces when every one was evicted and warded to be kept out permanently at the end of the summer including Grimmauld Place. He couldn't do it now because he didn't want Dumbledore to be alerted to their plans.

No matter, justice would be served.

Severus sat in an old chair while Harry paced the floor like a caged animal. The older man had not realized how wealthy Harry really was and he was sure Harry didn't know either. But now he was worried about Harry not wanting him. He didn't act any differently though and he seemed to rely on Severus even more now that this information was revealed to them. Harry could marry anyone; he could be even more politically powerful than Malfoy Senior if he wanted to choose that path. The world would not want them together and once the younger man became aware of what he was giving up, he may change his mind about being with Severus.

What Severus didn't know was that Harry only saw all this new information as more trouble for Severus to put up with. He worried Severus wouldn't want him because of all the pressure the wizarding world was going to put on them. His life was never simple and quiet and he knew Severus liked the uncomplicated peace after all he had been forced to go through. What was he going to do if his soulmate didn't want him anymore? This was a disaster in the making as far as Harry was concerned.

"Harry?" Severus was getting worried, as the young man's face became more distressed with every passing thought he made as he was pacing. His thoughts obviously causing him worry, Severus wanted to find out what Harry was thinking.

Harry stopped pacing and looked at the one man in his life he could trust and wanted to be with, always. "Yes?" Harry said after a slight hesitation.

"What's wrong, Harry?"

"How can you still want me after all of this?" Harry started, "This is just another big mess and it will definitely bring more trouble for you. I am afraid my life will never be simple or quiet and you will not want to be around me anymore." Harry paused in his pacing to turn and look at Severus. "All I want to do right now is to go away with you forever and never have to come back here." Harry's eyes were pleading with his mate to understand and Severus was so happy Harry still wanted him that he smiled back.

"Harry, I do not want to leave you and yes, I do like a quiet life but one day we will have children and it won't be quiet anyways." Severus tried to reassure the Boy-Who-Lived and continued, "You are my soulmate and to me, that means everything. I am not leaving you because of the 'mess' as you called it and I will always be by your side."

"But—" Harry started to say but he was swiftly interrupted by his soulmate.

"No buts, Harry, I mean what I say." Severus was firm as he tried to convey his sincerity through his eyes and words.

"I am too much trouble, and danger always seems to follow me around too." Harry managed to say before he was interrupted again.

"Harry, we are destined to be together; even Gringotts proved that, I know I will not be happy without you. We are meant to be, please don't doubt that." Severus got out of the chair and crossed in front of Harry's path to enclose his slighter soulmate in his arms. He bent down to gently kissed Harry in an attempt to distract him from all the dark and gloomy thoughts running through his head.

Harry was instantly reminded of the kiss they shared that very day which they had to cut short because he had to go to the Great Hall for breakfast. Now they had time as he was not scheduled to go back to his Uncle's till tomorrow. He and Severus had planned to have this one day together before being separated for more than a month. They knew they would need time to discuss the information they now had and had initially thought the meeting at Gringotts would take hours. Well, it actually did take hours, but they didn't know they would be using a special room. It gave them more time to be alone together.

Severus started to pull back from the brief kiss, but Harry had didn't accept that. He encircled Severus' neck with his arms and opened his mouth in invitation. Severus just couldn't resist such a temptation.

A shot of desire spiked through Severus' chest and ripped through to his groin. He had never experience such a reaction to one small kiss. It was like an electrical current building between the two of them. His arms wrapped themselves tighter around the young hero of their own volition and Severus deepened the kiss, letting his tongue explore the recesses of Harry's mouth. Slowly Severus let his hands wonder down Harry's side rubbing as they counted each rib until they connected with his waist. Severus then bent closer to Harry and let his hands press down his hips, pulling him closer till their groins were pressed tightly together. Harry gasped at the feel of their bodies lining up together and wanted more, he stood on tiptoes and started mewling in to his partner's mouth.

Severus noticed he was close to orgasm and he could not believe that it could happen this fast especially with their clothes on. Yes, Harry was a teenager and it could happen to him, but Severus was an older and more seasoned individual and he didn't have quick satisfying grab sessions, it just wasn't done. He moved his mouth to Harry's neck and nibbled his way from his ear to where his neck and shoulder met, then reversed the direction and nibbled all the way up again back to Harry's mouth. Their tongues fought and danced with an insistent, passionate rhythm, each trying to seek out the other, wanting to hold on to the taste and feel of being connected. Harry gave another last thrust of his hips against Severus and cried out as his orgasm ripped through him as never before. Severus soon followed with a groan. The men just stood there, in the middle of the room, heaving breaths escaping from their chests as they realized what had just happened.

"Wow!" Harry managed between breaths. He was leaning against Severus and the only thing keeping his knees from buckling was his soulmate's arms around his waist, holding him in place.

"Indeed." Severus replied, still breathing heavily as he tried to catch his breath and calm down his racing heart. "I think I need to sit down, I am not as young as I used to be." Severus gave Harry a teasing smirk and actually had a twinkle in his eyes as he helped his young mate over to the bed where they could both sat down. Harry's legs felt like jelly and he nearly tripped before he hit the bed.

Harry sat on the bed and flopped back to lay down with his feet still on the floor. "Wow."

"I think we already established that." Severus said with a chuckle after he started breathing normally. "Are you hungry? We could order food in if you want." Severus leaned back on the bed so he was propped up on his elbow looking at the young man, trying to reestablish his sense of balance after the whirlwind of emotions they had just been through.

"I think I could probably manage some tea and biscuits. If I don't eat now then I will wake up hungry later." Harry said. "I really want to go take a shower, I'm sticky." He confessed to Severus and wrinkled his nose in disgust at the stickiness.

"Yes, I imagine you are. I will order tea and have it sent up while you use the bathroom first. After tea, I will take a shower myself." Severus nudged at Harry to get him up, got up himself and checked the pocket of his robes to find the young man's school trunk and resized it for him so he could get some clean clothes out of it.

Severus reapplied the glamour charms to change his appearance one more time, waved his wand with a quick grooming spell and went down to order tea for himself and Harry to be received in their room.

"Yes, sir, I can have it to you in ten minutes. Is there anything else I can do for you?" Tom asked as he worked cleaning glasses behind the bar and taking orders at the same time.

"No, the room is fine. We just need some refreshments. Thank you." Severus was careful not to show any mannerisms that could possibly give away his identity to the old inn keeper or anyone else who was watching. He then left and made his way upstairs where Harry was already in the shower and evidently singing. He had never heard him singing in the shower before and smirked at the thought. It seems there still are many more things he had to learn about his young soulmate.

A maid delivered tea to the door and left before Harry came out of the bathroom.

"Good, tea is here. The shower felt great and I am starting to get a little hungry. What time is it, Sev?" Harry said as he crossed the room to sit at the small table which had a good spread of biscuits, sandwiches and a steaming pot of tea.

Severus did a quick spell and they saw it was eight in the evening. Harry saw the time and turned to Severus, "It feels as if it should be later than that, I am completely exhausted."

"Harry, your day has been nearly six hours longer with the trip to Gringotts. I too am exhausted. I am going to take a shower and be right out, and then I am going to sleep till morning." Severus then got some clothes and proceeded to the bathroom where he took his shower, brushed his teeth and prepared for bed. He was determined to keep his hands off of Harry as he still felt Harry was too young to engage in any type of bonding activities. What had happened this afternoon had completely taken him by surprise and he didn't want it to happen again.

When Severus left the bathroom and walked into the bedroom, he found his Harry curled up on the bed, fast asleep. He looked down at young man and his heart ached at the sight. of his emerald eyed beauty hugging a pillow on the same side Severus usually slept on and he was on top of the blankets. Slowly after pulling the blankets from under Harry, he took away the pillow and slipped into the bed before pulling the covers over them. Skipping his meal, he gathered his mate into his arms and followed him into the grips of Morpheus just after noxing the lights. Harry snuggled close to his mate's side and slid his arm across Severus' chest. It appeared this was his favorite position and Sev was happy to indulge his younger partner.

They had been asleep for a few hours when she came again. Severus wondered about the study they were in, it looked familiar but different at same time. He and Harry were sitting together in his favorite chair with Harry comfortably on his lap and the young woman was standing before them. "Greetings, Severus and Harry, I will be coming soon and I need you to trust me. I am coming to save the child and the third time charm can only be used once." With that, the woman started to fade just as Severus wanted to ask questions but then received the most delightful sense of peace and contentment. Harry shifted next to him and gave a soft sigh as his arms tightened around Severus and pulled closer to him.

But that wonderful feeling didn't last too long for Harry started getting restless, then he began moaning in his sleep, waking Severus up. The potions master was worried that his mate was having a nightmare. It was confirmed when the teenager moaned, "No, Sirius." Severus gently shook him, "Wake up Harry, it's just a dream. Come on, Harry, it's time to wake up." Severus took hold of him and shifted him so he could whisper in his ear, "Shush, Harry, wake up now, Sssshhhhh, come on my love, you can wake up." Harry wouldn't wake so Severus kissed him to see if he could ease the pain of the dream. At first there was no response and Harry kept moaning in his sleep.

Severus continued to kiss Harry awake and after the teenager felt the gentle pressure on his mouth, he focused on Severus and not on the bad memories running rampant through his head. He started to respond to Severus and felt a magical pull to him. A pull so strong that what he was dreaming a moment before was gone and replaced with a new memory.

"Sev..." Harry whispered as he opened his mouth to respond to the kiss Severus was so desperate for him to reciprocate. The older man, upon feeling Harry's response, intensified the kiss. Magic swirled around them, huge threads of magic in colors of green, and gold, a deep red, royal blue and purple whirling around them in a clockwise motion. Severus didn't think about it at the time, but all these colors were acknowledge as royal colors even in the muggle world. Harry and Severus moved together, neither felt it when the magic removed their clothes nor when Harry's body was prepared to consummate the bond with Severus. The bond had made a choice neither of them was aware of, with no conscious effort of their own. As the magic swirled brighter and deeper, so Harry and Severus kissed deeper then as of one accord, Harry pressed closer to his soulmate and straddled his waist. Severus then reversed their positions with Harry's back to the bed. They were following the magic, its direction taking on a mind of its own. Severus wanted so much to be a part of his one true partner. Harry was also desperately searching for exactly that, a deep connection only achieved through penetration that he had until this moment only dreamed about. Severus entered him carefully, following the directions of the magic and not really knowing how he knew what it wanted. "Harry," he whispered, "I love you." He had never really told his soulmate that before but he meant it and believed it with all his heart.

Harry inhaled sharply at the words and moaned, begging, "Sev, please… now… more… need you…now." Severus continued to slowly enter his younger mate with great caution as he did not want to hurt Harry, but it seemed the magic took care of whatever was needed, because Harry arched his back, causing his erection to go deeper into the tunnel of delicious heat and mind-blowing tightness. He stilled to give Harry time to adjust but the teenager just wanted more. As soon as Severus shifted slightly, Harry started to move against the man that was now inside him. The magic moved within them and through them and it seemed stronger then ever. It was brilliant but everything went to a whole other level when Severus started hitting that special bundle of nerves, Harry gasped and his fervor increased. Harry mewled, feeling even more liquid heat pooling at his groin. The feeling of pleasure just kept on going higher and higher until he, all of a sudden, fell over the edge with a shout just as he thought this would never end. Severus, feeling his partner contract around him, lost control as he was engulfed in a tidal wave of pleasure and completed their union. Severus fell back into the bed beside his lover and pulled him close with his arms around him. Neither remembered falling asleep, but they both felt peaceful and safe.

Outside the door a young woman was standing making sure the silencing spells held and the magical surge that swelled around the two men was not detected by others. She smiled as the magic settled down in and around the two lovers and left the hallway with a near silent pop.

In an office in Scotland, as everyone slept, an orb turned blue instead of its usual white. Fortunately its owner was not there at the time to see it.


	9. Back to the Dursley's

The Third Time is a Charm

Summary:

A child was born to return the pureblood ways of long ago, what would you do to save him? His inheritance stolen and his friends are traitors who can he turn to? Strangers appear-friend or foe Warn-language, child abuse, M/M SS/HP AD/RW/HG bashing

Explicit sex scenes, Severus will be OOC and a host of other characters.

Disclaimer: I do not own or have interest in any of the Harry Potter universe. I admire J. K. Rowling for entertaining us with her world of make believe. I do not make any money from writing this story, I just like to have fun and borrow her characters for a while.

I want to thank my wonderful beta Lex for her great support and encouragement. I don't think this could have happened without her.

Chapter 9: Back at the Dursley's

Severus woke up first the next morning and realized he was holding Harry, and both of them were without a stitch of clothes on. Then he remembered the flow of magic that had swirled around them in the middle of the night and moaned. He had thought Harry was too young and hadn't wanted to bond with him. Now Harry was no longer a virgin and it was Severus' fault. A feeling of remorse was settling in his chest, he could not believe he had done that. Harry was not ready for that, he didn't want to scare him away by pushing him into a bond he may not want. It was unconscionable to tie a fifteen year old to a man of thirty-five. He was the older one and should have backed off as soon as Harry started to respond. He didn't know what came over him, how he could even think to do that to Harry. But that was the problem, he didn't think.

Harry shifted in his sleep and slowly woke up sensing some of Severus' distress. He rubbed his hand over the older man's heart and said to him, "Stop it right now, Severus, you are thinking to hard for this early in the morning. It wasn't your fault; it was what the magic wanted, even I could feel that." Severus just looked down at Harry in surprise and tried to form an answer that would not reveal the shock he felt.

"Harry?" Severus queried. "What are you doing awake?" Severus shifted so he could see his lovers face and watched as the emerald orbs opened and looked at him, still bleary from sleep.

"You were stressing about what happened last night and I know that it was not your fault. The magic took over and was everywhere. It was the strongest I have ever felt magic before so it must have been meant to happen. Quit worrying about it." His words slurred slightly and his voice was husky with sleep but he obviously knew what he was saying.

Severus stirred and got up out of bed then spoke to Harry. "Go back to sleep for awhile love. I am going to shower and see about getting some breakfast. You can sleep a little longer." Without waiting for an answer as he saw Harry curl up around a pillow again, the older man made his way to freshen up and get dressed. Harry was right, the magic last night was very strong and what happened did seem to be destined, but he had never heard of it happening that way.

Feeling awake and refreshed, Severus reentered the bedroom to find Harry fast asleep in the middle of the bed, curled up in a fetal position softly snoring. Severus Accio-ed his wand, to see what time it was, without thinking about it. When he saw it was already six-thirty in the morning, he nudged Harry to see if he would wake. Harry was always hard to rouse from a deep sleep no matter how long he had been sleeping; sometimes Severus thought he would sleep for days if he could. Of course this could be from lack of sleep on most nights at the castle with nightmares then at his relative's house with chores, beatings and more nightmares. He so did not want to send Harry to those awful muggles again.

"Come on sweetheart, you need to get up. It's almost six-thirty and if we don't have you back to Privet Drive soon, someone will notice you are missing and all hell will break loose." At that Harry rolled over and threw his legs off the bed to get up. He stumbled to his trunk to get some clean clothes and hobbled into the bathroom. Severus for a moment wondered why Harry was walking so strangely then he remembered their activities of last night and went to his outer robes to get a mild pain killer. He knocked on the door and asked Harry if he needed any help, but Harry had just started the water and didn't answer. Severus opened the door marginally and poked his head into the room to tell him to take a hot bath instead of a shower and hand his young lover the pain potion. Harry, still half asleep, nodded, took the potion. After he had drunk the pain potion, he noticed some bath lotion on the ledge and poured some into the bath before slowly stepping in. It felt wonderful.

Harry exited the bathroom almost an hour later to find Severus seated at the same small table as last night with breakfast in front of him. He sat down in front of his now lover and looked at Severus. "Harry, are you alright?" Severus asked. For some reason Harry looked tired and a little lethargic even with the glow of magic surrounding him. But Harry shook his head no and replied.

"I am fine; my leg was hurting this morning, my thigh actually and I was wondering why."

"Is it hurting now? Do you hurt anywhere else? I was worried about how the activities of last night effected you." The concern in Severus' voice and the expression on his face brought a smile to Harry's lips; at least someone was worried about him.

"No, nothing is hurting now, the bath and pain potion worked wonders, and I am just a little tired. I am fine really Severus." Harry tried to assure him.

Severus gave Harry a searching stare, as if looking for something to be wrong, but didn't see anything so he let the subject drop. He started eating the delicious breakfast of eggs and sausage in front of him and watched as Harry did the same. Severus drank his coffee and Harry had his pumpkin juice as they enjoyed their last breakfast together for a while. At least he could make sure Harry had one more good meal before he had to go back to those atrocious relatives of his.

When breakfast was completed, they both stood up so Severus could reapply the glamour charms from yesterday and get their things packed, ready to leave. When nothing was left to do, Severus look at Harry one more time and asked "Are you sure you are feeling well and nothing is hurting you?" Harry walked over to his soulmate and gave him a firm hug around his waist, leaning into him as he stood there.

"Yes, Severus, I am sure I am fine, but it's nice to have someone who cares."

"I will always care for you." Severus said before he touched Harry's lips with his own in a soft, gentle kiss. "It is time for us to leave and get you back to that place." Severus said. He sounded resigned to the fate of his soul mate, but he knew he would be getting Harry out of there as soon as possible. "I think it would be prudent to Apperate to an alley the Order uses from time to time when checking on you then let you go the rest of the way on your own. We can't really be seen together."

"I know Sev, are you sure they cannot detect the magic around there?" Harry didn't want anyone coming to surprise them because magic was in his neighborhood.

"They can detect it, but they ignore it because the Order uses it periodically. We obviously don't let them know when we are using it so they expect magic to be used occasionally. As long as it is not underage magic they will let it slide."

"Then let's go, might as well get this over with." Harry heaved a big sigh and followed Severus out of the room.

They went to an alley close to the Leaky Cauldron and Apperated to another alley about three blocks from Privet Drive. Severus checked the area for anything unusual and faced Harry one last time before he had to leave. "Please, Harry, send me a message if you need anything or if I can do something. I will come get you as soon as I can. Hedwig should be here anytime now. You did leave her in the owlery so she could fly here later, right?"

"Yes, she knows to come and sit in the tree, my uncle likes to lock her up and not let me feed her. She is safer outside. I know you will come if I need you. I will be alright. Hey, I've lived this long with them and a few more weeks will not kill me." Harry said trying to lighten the mood. He didn't really want to go, Severus didn't want to leave him, but they both knew that Dumbledore had too much power for them to defy him right now and there were still death eaters out there and good old Voldie himself to deal with.

With one last quick kiss, they parted and Severus cancelled the glamour they had been using for the last 24 hours and Harry turned the corner and headed for Number Four Privet Drive. As he approached the house, he noticed his Uncle's car was not in the drive and the house had a vacant look to it. Harry let himself in, not noticing the door had been locked and walked into the sitting area. Nobody seemed to be home, so he walked into the kitchen and saw a note on the counter.

_Boy,_

_If you are reading this, then one of your freak friends let you in the locked house. We went to go see Aunt Marge and will return later. Here is your list of chores and they better be done before we get back tonight_.

'That explained why they weren't here but not why the front door was unlocked.' Harry thought. 'Perhaps they forgot on their way out.' Harry then picked up the list, most of it outside chores and was grateful to Severus for breakfast that morning. At least he was not doing all this work on an empty stomach and he also had some muggle money to get something to eat if he needed it. He knew not to touch the food in the house before they got back.

Harry went upstairs to his room put his things away, mostly under the loose floorboard, and change into old clothes and went back downstairs to get to work. For a moment he thanked the gods that all his trunks were miniaturized. It made hiding them a whole lot easier. 'It was just another wonderful summer in Surrey.' He thought facetiously as he walked out the back door to the tool shed to get the lawn mower.

Harry was still cutting the hedge when the Dursley's car pulled back into the driveway. Uncle Vernon got out of the car and told Harry to hurry up and start dinner. He was to have been finished by now. Dudley got out of the car and 'accidently bumped' into him, nearly knocking him to the ground, and headed for the door without saying a word. Aunt Petunia just told him to get the groceries out of the car, "now!"

So Harry's summer went by, with chores, not a lot of food and a few beatings every other day. Nothing he hadn't lived through before. But every day that passed, Harry missed Severus more and more. He wondered when his lover would be able to come and get him out of here. He thought he would have heard from him by now and Harry was starting to worry that Sev may not want him anymore. The nightmares were back and he could tell Voldemort was starting to cause trouble again. His scar was itching and burning.

Meanwhile, Professor Dumbledore spent the first part of his summer at Grimmauld Place, going through the Black Library to see what books he may want to keep before Harry found out he had inherited them and would not let anyone access to them. There were a few he thought he could placate Hermione with because he still did not give them their end of the year bonus as they had let Harry go off to the Department of Mysteries without stopping him. Yes, they had gone with him, but that was not what they were given instructions to do. They almost foiled his plans and he was still angry with them but he needed them to keep Harry in line. Yes this was very nice, he was in the library picking several old out of print and rare tomes when that awful house elf, Kreacher, came and asked what he was doing.

"You know your master gave me permission to be here before he died and now the half blood, Harry Potter, inherited this house and all its possessions." The elf nodded. "I am Harry Potter's magical guardian and I am here picking out books for Harry to read this summer and to study. You may bring me some tea to make yourself useful." Dumbledore looked at the little elf with all the confidence in the world but Kreacher was not fooled. He knew when someone was lying, but he could not say anything as his new master had not changed any of his orders left from the old master. He didn't like the new half blood master and did not want to go tell him anything either. So he bowed his head and said "Yes, will tea and biscuits be agreeable with the Professor Dumbledore?"

Dumbledore nodded his head and the elf went to make tea and bring it to him. He just took his time about it and didn't hurry, so about an hour later he arrived in the library with the blood traitor's tea. "Next time Kreacher, you will be faster or I will punish you." The elf bowed and left with a quick pop, the old man was not his master and Kreacher didn't have to take orders from him.

After staying for a week going through the contents of the house, Dumbledore returned to his private quarters at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He resized the books he brought with him and it was many. Now all he had to do was find a place to put them. He transfigured an old chest of drawers into new bookshelves and put them against a near empty wall after removing the pictures and proceeded to levitate the books onto the shelves. Over seventy books made their way to their new home and Dumbledore was very happy with this weeks work. Some of these books were worth a small fortune on their own and together he could sell the books for a tidy sum, after he copied them of course.

Later when the old man had completed his task with the books, he turned to the direction of his office to place a few of the books there. They would be handy to give to Hermione when he next had to appease her. The children could be such a stubborn and spoiled lot. They should be happy they are getting any money at all. Just being friends with the Boy-Who-Lived would give them recognition in the wizarding world. Enough recognition to get into good paying jobs or universities if they so desire. Instead they were complaining about the amount of their pay.

Dumbledore walked over to the table with his monitoring orbs to check on the boy. He always looked at them from time to time to make sure the wards had not been breached and the child was still in fairly good health. One of the orbs was different though and it took a minute to realize just which one it was. The old man stared at the orb for several minutes not believing what he was seeing. He blinked and then blinked again trying to get his brain out of the shock it had just received. The white orb was blue but how could that be. His face blanched white and the expression completely fell into a gray disbelieving look. Harry was to have been home directly after school. He couldn't have been with anyone who would do that. There was a spell. One to prevent that from happening, how could anyone have broken it. Moody, he was supposed to watch Harry and make sure he was greeted by his Uncle and went straight home. He ran straight to the fireplace and threw some floo powder in it as he shouted Moody. He had to wait a few minutes for the old codger to reply, but soon saw his face in the fire.

Dumbledore asked without preamble, "Did you see Potter at the train station and was he met by his Uncle?" The old coot was livid and very short tempered with the retired Auror but Dumbledore didn't care, he wanted answers now!

"I did" replied Moody in his customary gravely voice, "but he was met by an old neighbor that came for him in place of his Uncle. He said his Uncle was on a business trip and would not be back till the evening, and today they were going to his Uncle's sister's house to visit. I checked the Uncle's house and the boy was correct, his Uncle was not home" The old Auror not missing any details looked at the ashen expression of the old headmaster and asked, "Is there something wrong Albus?"

"No Alistair, I was just checking you may go now." Dumbledore was trying to cover for his out of character behavior.

Moody just gave him a quizzical look and nodded, then left the fire call.

Dumbledore sat down heavily into his chair and tried to think how his plans had gone so wrong. Trouble was he couldn't talk to anyone about this because he didn't want anyone to know what he had done or what he had planned for the boy. He was going to have to punish Harry, but not just yet. Let things settle for a bit this summer and he would go see Harry for his birthday to get him from the house and bring him here to find out what happened. No point in getting the muggles involved and what was done could not be undone now. So Albus plotted and planned over the next few weeks. He would send an owl to Harry's relatives about a week before his birthday to let them know that his godfather had died. That should get a reaction from them.


	10. The Dursley’s Final Mistake

The Third Time is a Charm

Summary:

A child was born to return the pureblood ways of long ago, what would you do to save him? His inheritance stolen and his friends are traitors who can he turn to? Strangers appear-friend or foe Warn-language, child abuse, M/M SS/HP AD/RW/HG bashing

Explicit sex scenes, Severus will be OOC and a host of other characters.

Disclaimer: I do not own or have interest in any of the Harry Potter universe. I admire J. K. Rowling for entertaining us with her world of make believe. I do not make any money from writing this story, I just like to have fun and borrow her characters for a while.

I want to thank my wonderful beta Lex for her great support and encouragement. I don't think this could have happened without her.

Chapter 10: The Dursley's Final Mistake

Severus didn't know what was wrong with Dumbledore but he was making Severus' life one living hell. First, it was replenishing potions for Poppy, then it was Wolfsbane for Lupin and then it was extra Wolfsbane to try to get the other werewolves on their side. Next, he wanted Severus to go on several recon missions to find out if Voldemort knew anything about Harry. Sometimes he thought the old coot was keeping him busy on purpose.

Adding on to that, the Dark Lord had summoned him five times already. Said he felt a change in the bond he had with the young boy and wanted to know why the connection was weakening. But Severus already had an idea on why the bond was not as strong as before, it was the soul bond that had started with Severus after their night together. Although they had not seen each other since then, he somehow could feel that Harry was alright. He knew when Harry was hurting but also knew that it was not as bad as it could have been. He had been warring with himself every time he felt a twinge of pain where Harry was concerned. Severus only hoped that he could get Harry out of there soon but right now he was being watched too closely to be able to do what he wanted.

―

It was a week before his birthday and Harry had not been feeling well for the last few days. He was sick a few times and wondered if he had some sort of stomach flu. He brushed it off as this happened sometimes when he got back from school; it was not getting enough to eat after almost 10 months of eating well. His system just needed to readjust again. His Uncle wouldn't let up on the chores though so he just suffered through it, hoping Severus still wanted him and he would be out of there soon.

It was two days before his birthday when an owl started tapping on the window just as Aunt Petunia came into the kitchen.

"Owls! You know how Vernon hates those owls! _You _are not supposed to be writing to your freaky friends and getting owls!" Petunia shrieked at the offending animal scratching at the window. Harry opened the window to let the bird in so he could take the message tied to its leg. But the bird didn't let Harry touch it; instead it flew to his Aunt and stuck its leg out for the woman to take the message. Aunt Petunia gingerly put her hand forward, as if the bird were going to attack any minute and untied the message. She then shooed the bird back out the window before Harry could give it a little piece of the bacon he was currently cooking with the rest of breakfast.

The message was addressed to both his Aunt and Uncle. Harry had a bad feeling about this; he knew if a note was addressed to them it had to be bad news. No one ever sent mail to his relatives unless wanting to cause trouble. His Aunt took the note and called to her husband as she was leaving the kitchen. Vernon came down the stairs dressed for the day and wanting his breakfast so he could get to work. He was scheduled to meet a new client so he had on his best business suit and wanted to get to work a little early to go over his proposal one more time.

He took the note and read it as he was sitting down to the table where Harry was busy setting down the platters of food for the family to eat. "You, boy, you didn't tell us your Godfather was killed and it was probably your fault too, huh?" Uncle Vernon looked like he was just getting started into a good rant as his face was starting to turn an ugly burgundy. "You have been bragging about it all summer about you having a Godfather that was convicted of murder! And now we find out he is dead! Well! Serves him right! You are going to find out how we deal with little liars in this house! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME BOY?!" Now his Uncle's face was turning that putrid purple color when he was really mad. This only meant one thing to Harry; he was going to receive a beating. Never mind that he had not been 'bragging' about his Godfather, he had not mentioned him at all, he was going to physically feel the anger from his uncle regardless.

Vernon grabbed Harry's wrist harshly in a crushing grip that made Harry wince in pain. Then his Uncle, with a steely glint in his eyes, looked at Petunia and said, "Go get my old Smeltings' Stick, Petunia, and hurry!" As Petunia scurried off like a frightened mouse, the huge walrus of a man turned his rapidly purpling face back to Harry. "You are going to find out how we treat freaks who lie. There won't be enough of you to bury when I am finished with you boy." The longer he spoke, the tighter the grip on Harry's wrist become till he heard a slight snap. Harry was almost collapsed onto his knees in pain as his wrist fractured from his Uncle's harsh handling but the ordeal had just begun.

Meanwhile back at the castle, Severus was brewing another batch of Wolfsbane when he dropped the knife he was using to cut ingredients. He felt the pain shoot through his wrist as if it were being twisted around unnaturally. He didn't know why it happened, but the pain subsided almost immediately so he resumed cutting up his ingredients. His thoughts centered on how to get a few days away from Dumbledore so he could go get Harry on his birthday. He thought it would be nice if they could spend some time together. He knew that some of the Order was watching the house closely but he thought he could get around it. If only the old coot would leave him alone for a few days, it could be managed.

―

In an upstairs office in the same castle, the old coot, as Severus so aptly described, was watching with a sadistic glee at a monitoring orb that now was turning colors again. This time it was turning from the new blue color to red.

Pain, Harry was in pain.

Yes the boy needed to be punished for giving his virginity to someone else after all the plans and study the old man had done. Years ago he had found just the right ritual he had wanted to use on someone and Harry was the perfect candidate. He was just waiting for the right time to implement it. A couple days of this and he would go get Harry on his birthday so Poppy could heal him. Then Albus would be able to punish him again, but in a different way.

―

Back at Privet Drive, Harry's Uncle was in rare form. The Smelting Stick was found and Aunt Petunia scurried back to hand the offending weapon to her husband. "Vernon," she said quietly, "You can't hurt him too much. Those people will find out and come after us." Her face was white and pinched even more than usual.

"I am not going to kill the boy, you can't kill these freaks. I am just going to teach him not to lie to us anymore. It's no more than he deserves." Harry didn't see the flash of evil in his Uncle's eyes from his kneeling position on the floor, but Petunia saw it and she was starting to fear for the boy's safety. She had never seen Vernon this incensed before.

Vernon's face was a nice shade of purple now as his anger took over. He took the stick from Petunia and told her to go upstairs and make sure Dudley didn't wake up and come down. His Aunt gave him one last sorrowful glance and scampered along, really striking Harry as a little mouse this time. Vernon turned back to him with the stick in his hand. He raised it up and hit Harry across his chest. As Harry shouted in pain and tried to curl up into a ball to ward off some of the blows to his stomach and chest, he could already feel that at least one rib had been broken. The blows just kept coming and Harry took them as best he could finally letting the darkness take him as another strike across his back broke another rib.

―

In the castle, a very perturbed potions master could be found. Each strike on Harry's back with the Smeltings' Stick caused a twinge of pain to the older man of the soulmated couple. Sudden clarity came to Severus as another stab of pain, this time in his leg, almost had him on the floor. Harry, his Harry, was being beaten and was hurting very badly. He quickly spelled the cauldron empty of the its contents without his wand in hand or even mindful thought, grabbed his cloak and ran as fast as his feet could take him to the apparition point of the school. If they had spent more time together the bond would have been stronger and he may have realized earlier what was going on.

―

Dumbledore was still standing at his table of odd gadgets, watching the orb turn dark red as Harry was being beaten. He was thinking of all the things he could do with Harry once he returned to school. Since the boy had lost his virginity, given it away like it was worth nothing, he might as well have a little fun with the boy. Harry must be in an enormous amount of pain for the orb to turn _that_ color. The old coot was in the best mood he'd ever had since all this started four or five weeks ago.

―

Severus made it to Little Whinging in record time, not caring who might catch sight of him. He ran to Number Four Privet Drive and pounded on the door to be let in. When no one answered, he checked the door knob, opened the door and stood for a moment in the doorway to try to figure out where Harry could be. He heard the uncle in the back of the house bellowing at Harry and followed the sound. The man was telling Harry about not lying, being a freak and how freaks should enjoy this as they were not normal people. The louder the man shouted at Harry and the more trash that came out of his mouth, the sicker Severus felt. He realized that his lover must have lived with these lies all his life and was almost conditioned to believe them. He finally reached the kitchen where he saw a bloody beaten child on the floor and the walrus of a man hitting him with some kind of cane and not letting up. It looked like his soulmate had been in that position for awhile.

All of this went through Severus' mind in a flash of understanding. He jerked the stick out of the other man's hand and pushed him against the wall without regard for how he landed. Severus pulled his wand from its holster and pointed it at the man now sitting on the floor, hit him with a stunner and turned to look at Harry. "Merlin Harry, what has he done to you?" Severus sat down on the floor next to his love and looked at the damage. There did not seem to be one spot on the poor younger man's body that had not been hit by that tub of lard stunned on the floor. Severus would deal with him later.

Severus gently laid a hand on Harry's face, the face he loved so much but was now unrecognizable with bruises and a cane marks across both cheeks. "Harry, can you hear me? Harry?" Severus spoke quietly, trying to get his lover to respond. "Harry, I am so sorry I didn't get to you sooner. Please love, wake up for me." Severus could hear the young man wheezing as Harry was trying to breathe, so he shifted his position to be able to prop him up a little to ease his distress. Severus then took out a few vials of potions he knew could help the young man in his arms as he held him up. He needed Harry to regain consciousness to feed him the potions. He had never wanted to see Poppy more than at this moment, but she was visiting her family and was not available. Harry was in no shape to be moved and he didn't have any way of reaching St. Mungo's from this location. His only hope was to stabilize him and then take him to the hospital.

Severus tried again, with an edge of desperation leaking into his voice, "Harry, please wake up, I need to give you some potions. There is something for pain here and something for healing and I have some Skele-Gro for the broken bones." The older man very gently touched Harry's face to get him to respond as he babbled incessantly to get his attention. He knew that if Harry would just wake up, then things were going to be alright. He had to believe that because a world without his soulmate was not worth living; because then, Severus would have nothing left to look forward to.

Harry started to move his cheek closer to the hand caressing it. Severus was instantly alert and studied the young man's face to see if there were any more signs of awareness or if he was still without any perception of his surroundings. It looked as if Harry were trying to open his eyes. "Come on love, you can do it. I need you to swallow a few potions for me so we can get you out of here and make you better." Harry groaned and his eyes fluttered open a little as he tried to speak.

"I thought...didn't want me…too much trouble." Harry started to say but his throat hurt from all the screaming he had done and he was having a hard time forming the words. "Didn't want…see me…like…this." Severus just shushed him gently and told him not to worry, but Harry wanted to let him know he did not have to stay bonded to him and maybe he would be better off without him. He just couldn't form the thoughts well enough to get the words out. Severus tilted his head back slightly and fed him a pain potion which Harry swallowed very slowly. It did not get rid of all the pain, but it did dull it slightly so he could get a little more comfortable in Sev's arms and be able to take the other potions.

But they didn't seem to be working.

―

Harry knew that he was beaten for a long time even being in and out of consciousness during his 'lesson' as his Uncle called it. Harry knew there was more damage than Severus knew about, a lot more damage. He turned his face to his bond mate and tried once again to speak with him. It worked a little better this time.

"Severus…. you know I love you… and want to always be with you…" Harry paused as he formed what he wanted to say next, "but…I don't think… I… I am going to make it this time. I can't… feel my… magic any more…"

Severus turned his tearful obsidian eyes to look deep into Harry's emerald orbs and pleaded with him. "Please don't say that, love. We will get you out of here and to the hospital as soon as I can transport you. Just let the potions do their work for now."

"Sev," Harry started again in a whisper so low Severus had to lean closer in just to hear him, "You know they… they are not… not working, there is… too much damage. Huh…I guess my Uncle… finally did… beat the magic out of me. He's been… trying to do that for… years. He hates… magic… you know..."

"No, Harry," Severus beseeched his ailing mate, "please don't speak of this, I will get you out of here." But Harry was drifting in and out of consciousness again and Severus feared for the worst. After all, they had been through enough to get together in the first place and the mating of the soul bond, he refused to believe that he was not meant to be with Harry for eternity. They just could not end like this. Harry's wheezing was becoming worse now and Severus could almost feel the life force draining from him. He didn't know how to fix this even though he desperately wanted to. Severus didn't even notice his own tears cascading down his face, hitting Harry's chest with little splashes as he watched the younger man drift out of consciousness again.

Severus was so focused on the problem at hand; he did not hear the soft pop behind him which signaled the arrival of another person. A young witch with long hair of midnight black and emerald green eyes had arrived on the scene. She spoke gently to alert Severus of her presence. "Severus, I have come to help." She said softly from her position, three steps behind him. She didn't want to startle him and get hexed when they needed to move quickly. "Severus, can you hear me?"

"Yes, but he is already dying, isn't he." Severus said, not really asking a question but stating the obvious. He did not care if she saw the tears running down his cheeks. He was losing the only person in the world he cared about. He wanted so badly to go with Harry to where ever he was going to be now. He was so tired of this stupid war that caused Harry to lose his parents and put him in this situation and he was so tired of manipulative old coots that thought they owned the world and played every one around them like a chess match. But she was here now, and maybe there was still a chance.

If Severus had not been watching his soulmate dying, he would have wondered how this young woman appeared through the wards on the house. Severus, himself, couldn't do that and he knew where the house was. But none of this crossed his mind as he held his lover in his arms. He would gladly die in Harry's place but that wasn't one of his options right now. He really just wanted the younger man to be alive and alright.

"He will not die, Severus. We will help him. May I come closer?" Becca gently spoke to him as if trying to approach a wild horse. She needed to get closer to Harry to place the portkey on them both, but she still was not sure about Severus' state of mind. It was devastating to see someone you love so dearly in this condition.

"Yes, you may come closer, but the potions are not working and he needs immediate professional help. I have some knowledge of healing but he needs specialists and round the clock care, Merlin how can anyone inflict this much damage on one small helpless child. He won't even be sixteen for a couple more days." Severus looked at Becca for the first time in person. "So are you still a dream or are you really here to help?"

"Oh dear, I wasn't expecting this." Becca smiled and said "I'm not a dream anymore, I am really here, but we have to get Harry back with us for a few minutes; I need his consent to do some medical spells." She turned her face back to look at Harry and put her hand to his chest, barely touching it mindful of his injuries. She placed her other hand on Severus' shoulder and sending a little shock of magic into Harry's magical core, she boosted it just enough to get him coherent again. "Harry, can you hear me?"

Harry moved a bit to face the new voice. He had heard that voice before, he was sure of it, but could not place it right now. "Yes, I can hear you. Who are you?"

"Harry, listen to me, you are very badly hurt and I want to help. You had a dream about me, do you remember?" Harry only nodded his head slightly but it was enough. "Harry, your body right now has used all its magic to keep you alive, and now it is taking the baby's magic to sustain you," she heard Severus' sharp intake of breath but continued "but eventually it will kill you both. If I try to move you in this state, you will both die. Do you understand?" Again Harry nodded but he interrupted her.

"How can we save the baby?"


	11. Saving a Child

The Third Time is a Charm

Summary:

A child was born to return the pureblood ways of long ago, what would you do to save him? His inheritance stolen and his friends are traitors who can he turn to? Strangers appear-friend or foe Warn-language, child abuse, M/M SS/HP AD/RW/HG bashing

Explicit sex scenes, Severus will be OOC and a host of other characters.

Disclaimer: I do not own or have interest in any of the Harry Potter universe. I admire J. K. Rowling for entertaining us with her world of make believe. I do not make any money from writing this story, I just like to have fun and borrow her characters for a while.

I want to thank my wonderful beta Lex for her great support and encouragement. I don't think this could have happened without her.

Chapter 11: Saving a Child

"Harry," the young woman started, "We can save you both if you will agree to let me do something." Becca paused for a moment to let the words sink in, she didn't want to go too fast but time was already running short. "I can transfer the fetus into my womb so that your body can be worked on without the fear of you taking all the baby's magic, and of the potions and spells needed to save you hurting the baby. But you and Severus both have to agree or it will not work. Do you understand?" Harry nodded his bruised and battered head one more time then looked at Sev to find out what he would say. Severus seemed slightly stunned and Harry realized the news he was going to be a father could have been delivered in better circumstances.

"Sev?" Harry hesitantly asked as he tried to get his attention. "Do you want to do this?"

"You mean I am going to be a father?" The incredulous look on Severus' face would have been priceless if the situation had not been so dire. Then he turned a calculating stare at the woman before him, "How do we know you will not take off with our child?" Ever the Slytherin, Severus asked the same question Harry wanted to ask, but he didn't want the baby to die either. Becca pulled out her wand and spoke with a clear and concise voice.

"On my magic, I, Rebecca Elizabeth Prince declare that I have no ill intentions towards Harry James Potter, Severus Tobias Snape or to their unborn child Evan Sebastian Snape and only wish to give them a happy life together by helping them survive." With the oath performed, the magic flared and sent tendrils connecting Harry, Severus and Rebecca. Satisfied with the oath, Severus nodded his head at the same time as Harry so she could transfer the fetus and transport them to a medical facility.

Becca knelt down next to Harry and raised her left hand above his stomach where the fetus lay and then placed her other hand on Severus' shoulder as before to steady herself. She concentrated and without saying a word, a small blue silver sphere, not even seventy five millimeters in diameter, emerged from Harry's body and settled onto her outstretched palm. She directed the sphere to where her womb was located, just below her stomach, and pushed the glowing ball, which was the unborn child, into her body. They watched in fascination as the silver blue sphere settled slowly into her body. Harry, at this point, started wheezing badly and Becca pulled out a scarf made of acromantula silk.

"Severus, I am sending both of you to a specialized medical team in a secured facility where you will be safe from everybody who may bear you ill will. They already know the situation and are standing by to take over and take care of Harry and you. I am going to collect Harry's possessions and will get back with you in a little while. We don't want to leave anything here that can be found and taken. I already know about his cloak and his secret hiding place under the loose floorboard." She paused for just a moment, very cognizant of the fact they were running out of time. "Do you know of anything else I need to know before you leave here?"

Severus just shook his head in negative so when Becca was assured that both men had a hold of the scarf and Severus was still cradling Harry; she whispered "Mission Control," and they disappeared out of sight.

―

In the castle somewhere in Scotland, an uncharacteristic bellow could be heard through the upper part of the castle.

"NNNOOOOOOO!"

Albus Dumbledore, man of all plans and the greatest wizard of the age, screamed as the monitoring orbs exploded while he was watching the different shades of red. Next, the other monitoring equipment showed the wards falling, the Fidelius was gone and Harry Potter had disappeared off the map of Little Whinging. The gadgets, now strewn all over the office from their owner's fit of rage, were destroyed in one way or another. Someone was going to be in serious trouble when he found out who had taken the Potter brat from his relatives home.

He needed to go there and find out what happened.

―

Becca knew she had to hurry and get out of there fast as that despicable headmaster would be coming soon. She raced up the stairs and entered Harry's room in a rush. Petunia must have heard her and came out from the master bedroom to see what was going on. The younger woman ignored her has she slipped under the bed to the loose floorboard and gathered Harry's things. She stuffed them in one of her enormous pockets in her nicely tailored royal blue robe and pulled out her wand.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" Petunia asked indignantly. The younger woman deigned not to answer and continued.

"Accio Harry Potter's belongings!" shouted Becca in a command as she held onto her necklace. Harry's things started flying through the room and something even came through the ceiling from the attic. She was surprised at this, it was not listed anywhere in her records that there were things in the attic that belonged to Harry.

"You are destroying my house!" Petunia cried angrily, her face turning a nice shade of red, when the box burst through the ceiling.

"And you, my dear Aunt Petunia, have been keeping things from Harry!" Becca shouted back. Not really caring about her as she would be obliviating the two adults soon. She proceeded to shrink the items that had come through, checked the loose floorboard one more time and turned to the hysterical woman at the door. "Obliviate!" Becca said and took Petunia's memory of having seen her in Harry's room. Now she went back down the stairs to do the same to Vernon, taking his memory to just before Severus arrived. After she had completed her task, she looked around the room, repeated "Accio Harry Potter's things" and when nothing appeared, she left without so much as a backward glance as she touched her necklace and said Hogwarts Great Hall.

―

The old coot arrived at Privet Drive two minutes later to interrogate the couple, who of course remembered nothing after beating Harry and had to deal with the wrath of a very angry headmaster. Unbeknownst to him, Becca popped straight to the castle and into the Great Hall. She called for the house elves to come and when they appeared she told them, "The current headmaster of this school no longer functions in the best interest of the students in his care. He will be removed from his post without recompense. Do you know who I am?" Her voice was authoritative and commanding.

All the house elves nodded and the head elf whose vest had an embroidered castle with the Hogwarts shield on the door and a gold circle around the whole crest on his left breast pocket spoke up and said. "You are a descendent of the Heir. Only the Heir and his descendents can apparate into and out of the castle."

"Yes, that is correct." Becca softened her voice and crouched down to come face to face with the little being and request. "I need you to pack all of Professor Snape's belongings into these two trunks, shrink them down to a small size and hold on to them till either the professor himself or I come back for them." Becca gave the head elf two trunks out of her pocket.

"Now I need two elves to go to the headmaster's quarters including his private office and personal living quarters and collect everything that has been stolen from Harry Potter and the four founders. You will find there are at least a hundred books and dozens of priceless artifacts that belong to Master Potter as the heir of the founders, or were stolen from Master Potter from his properties and vaults. You should be informed that Master Potter, at this very moment, is fighting for his life because of the danger that the headmaster and his relatives have put him in. When you collect the stolen items and when you empty the professor's quarters, you are to copy everything you take to make it look as if the original is still there but make them useless when the headmaster tries to use them. It does not need to last long; we just do not want anyone to find out what we are doing for the next few days. Once we have completed our tasks and Master Potter is able to be moved we don't have to worry about what the old man finds out. We just need time to get Master Potter healed and away from those who want to harm him. As for Professor Snape, I want someone to hand the Headmaster a note but not for the next three days." Becca handed the head elf a forged parchment before turning to look at the elves as a whole again, "Does everyone here understand?"

The elves as a collective bowed their heads low in respectful submission and then looked back at the heir's descendent. "Is there anything else we need to be doing, Mistress?" The head elf asked respectfully.

But Becca quickly put her finger to her mouth in a motion for silence. They could all hear the sound of footsteps as someone was coming down the hallway right toward them. Becca motioned for all the elves to leave except the head elf and moved with him to a shadowy corner of the room back away from the door. Professor McGonagall stood briefly at the doorway looking into the room, then shook her head and moved on. Becca breathed a sigh of relief and laying a hand on the elf beside her created a privacy bubble, combined with a powerful Notice-Me- Not charm, around herself and the elf so they might talk without being noticed or heard.

"Harry Potter and Professor Snape are soulmates," the elf nodded his head in understanding, "I am taking them away from this time line as it will be nothing but a disastrous war. If they agree, they will be going back in time to help raise and train another young Harry Potter and to stop the war before it gets out of hand again. I have invoked the Third Time Charm." The elves eyes grew wide and Becca asked, "Do you know what that means?"

"Yes, Mistress, it means you must be a Time Spirit. My Great-great-great Grandfather told us stories about how a Time Spirit did the same thing with Salazar Slytherin and that was the last anyone has ever heard of it happening. It also means you have already tried to correct this time line twice and failed. I am assuming that the death of Master Potter's parents is the pivotal point that needs correcting. The current headmaster has been manipulating events on a great level ever since then."

"That's correct; I have already come back twice to the day young Mister Potter's parents died but with no results. Fate and Magic are very patient but only give you one chance each to correct what is wrong. Now I have to invoke the Third Time Charm and use my last chance given by Time itself to go back for the last time and make this right. It is our last hope. You may tell the elves that I can take them and their elfin families with me to safety but when I say we have to go, they need to be ready." She said earnestly. "This must be a decision they make for themselves. It is not an order to leave their home."

"I will tell them Mistress."

"You don't have much time to get to the headmaster's office, so here is the trunk to pack everything into and now you may leave. I will be back in touch. Stay safe and do not take any unnecessary risks."

The elf bowed to the Mistress and left with a soft 'pop'.

Becca soon followed with her own 'pop' after the placement of her hand on her necklace again and a quiet "Grimmauld Place" going to her next destination. She went through the wards at Grimmauld Place without concern and called for Kreacher upon entering the house.

"Yes Mistress, what can Kreacher be doing for you?"

"Kreacher, do you know who I am?" Becca demanded of the little wizened elf.

"Yes, Mistress, you belong to the Potter brat." It was much easier to demand they figure out her identity rather than explain it to them. Kreacher was obviously not happy to serve the Potter descendents.

"Kreacher!" Becca said sternly and the old elf actually looked slightly chagrined, "You will show proper respect for your master." She chastised him and then gave him an order. "I want you to pack everything in this house including the Library and anything else that happens to be here. I want this completed in four hours and everything to be placed into several bottomless trunks, one for each floor. I already have someone else collecting the things that Dumbledore has stolen. I expect this done before another meeting is scheduled here. If you do this correctly, you will be released to Lady Malfoy, but you must complete this task first. I will return in four hours and you shall tell no one in anyway possible, writing, speaking or through their mind, about this." Kreacher nodded and she left the empty trunks to be resized and packed. Becca portkeyed straight to where Harry was being treated.

―

Severus was standing off to the side watching the healers at work; he had been doing this for almost twelve hours now. They were the strangest group of healers he had ever seen. A few of them were not human and he was not sure about the rest. There were five healers in all working on his soulmate. It was heart wrenching. He should have been there sooner, he should have told Dumbledore to stuff it and he should not have let Harry go back there in the first place. It was his entire fault. He did not protect his soulmate and he had been a bad partner not to have seen this coming. He started pacing again as he had been doing every few minutes since he had gotten here.

Becca popped in and took a look. She glanced at one of the healers and lifted a questioning brow before going off to the side to wait for the healer to come over and give her a report. She was not disappointed. A tall man with pepper grey hair gave a brief word to the person standing next to him and came to greet Becca warmly.

"How are you doing? We were getting concerned when we didn't see you." The handsome older healer said. He was looking at Becca with an indulgent smile, an affectionate sparkle in his blue eyes that he reserved for young children. He had known Becca since she was very young living with her great grandfathers, when he had come to work for them, and he had watched her grow up into the lovely young woman she was today. But she would always be a child to him.

"Hey Doc, I had to make plans and take care of business and you know time here is not the same." She smiled up at him, he was like a favorite uncle to her, and she had known him for as long as she could remember. "How is he doing? He was in pretty bad shape when I got to him."

"He is a lucky young man to even be alive. He's on life support right now because his magical core is not regenerating." Becca nodded her head in understanding and for him to continue. "He needs a real magical boost and there is only one way I know of that can do that. There are still blocks on his magic too. If we could release them he would stand a good chance. Do you know there is a slow leech on his magic from that scar of his? Other than that we have already treated a major portion of the damage. It would heal faster if we could get his magical core boosted."

Becca nodded her head, she had known about this. "Let me go talk to his mate, I hope he takes this better than I think he will." She sighed and slowly walked over to where Severus was standing.

"How are you holding up?" Severus gave her a pointed look and said nothing, Becca held up her hands in understanding before saying in a wry tone. "I suppose that is an answer unto itself"

"Where have you been? You said you would be right behind us and it has been hours. Harry didn't have that many things to collect from that house, he barely owned anything except what was in his trunk and that was already packed." He snarled at her, but Becca knew he was just worried about Harry and not really angry with her.

"I went to Hogwarts and had the elves pack up everything in your quarters and collect all the things the headmaster has stolen from Harry over the years. He has a huge fortune of books and priceless artifacts that belong to Harry. I also gave the elves you letter or resignation to give the old man in three days. You don't really want to go back there right now; he is in a vicious fury. Then I went to Grimmauld Place to get Kreacher to pack up everything in the house, all six floors of it including the attic. We won't be back there and the headmaster has been stealing from there as well as from his vaults. I don't want Harry's inheritance squandered by a man that helped do this to him. I also—"

"Stop," Severus held up his hand, palm out in the imitation of a stop sign, "I understand you had things to do. Did the healer you were talking to give you any new information on my…eh, on Harry?" Severus looked at her, ignoring his almost slip of the tongue calling Harry his soulmate. He didn't know if she knew and he didn't really trust her yet, even with the oath. If it hadn't been that the baby and Harry were dying, he would not have agreed to the fetus transfer in the first place, but then it wouldn't have been necessary either.

"Yes, he is not doing well, he is still on life support and his magical core is not regenerating. We need to try something else, but I am not sure you will be agreeable. In fact I am most sure you will not like the idea." Becca said as a sort of challenge to find out if the older man was indeed like the one she knew in the future.

"And what exactly is it you don't think I will be agreeable to?" Severus was losing his patience. His love, his soulmate lay on that hospital bed and nobody was doing anything and he wasn't even allowed near the bed while Harry was inserted with tubes. He hated this and wanted something done NOW! Then this little bit of a woman says he won't like the answer. If it was going to help Harry live and get better then he would try anything to have him back.

"Well," Becca said hesitantly, "there is an ancient form of magic that is not often used in this time but has helped other soulmated couples tremendously if one half of the pair was seriously injured. A type of magic that I believe your Ministry has outlawed but is legal in other magical worlds." Becca was trying to hedge into this slowly so he did not reject it out right, but it didn't look like it was working if his exasperated expression was anything to go by. "I have instructed a few couples and have taught classes on it but it is entirely up to you if you want to try it." Okay, the man was now facing her with his arms crossed and tapping his foot and a snarl on his face. This was not good.

"Will you stop prevaricating and get on with it, Ms Prince?" Severus tapped his foot some more and pointed looked at her. If he hadn't been so worried about Harry he might have wondered about the name but his focus was on his dying mate.

"Well," Becca tried again, "my suggestion is sex magic." There, at least she had said it. He looked at her like she was crazy. She wanted him to let her do sex magic with his lover? No way!

"I don't think this will work, I will not allow you to do that with Harry, there has to be another way." Severus started pacing again "Frankly, I am astounded that you would even suggest such an action. He is my soulmate!" So much for keeping it secret from her, he didn't even think about it when faced with what she was suggesting.

"Severus," the young woman interrupted the older man's rant, "I did not mean with me, I meant with you. You need to have a core binding, a sex magic ritual with your soulmate."

Severus widened his eyes, looking almost comical as he stared wordlessly at the young woman before him. When he spoke, the two words merely served to emphasize the extent of his thoughts.

"Oh Merlin."


	12. Sex Magic

The Third Time is a Charm

Summary:

A child was born to return the pureblood ways of long ago, what would you do to save him? His inheritance stolen and his friends are traitors who can he turn to? Strangers appear-friend or foe Warn-language, child abuse, M/M SS/HP AD/RW/HG bashing

Explicit sex scenes, Severus will be OOC and a host of other characters.

Disclaimer: I do not own or have interest in any of the Harry Potter universe. I admire J. K. Rowling for entertaining us with her world of make believe. I do not make any money from writing this story, I just like to have fun and borrow her characters for a while.

I want to thank my wonderful beta Lex for her great support and encouragement. I don't think this could have happened without her

Chapter 12: Sex Magic

"That's illegal and detectable by Ministry law." Severus said automatically, not really thinking about what he was saying in his bewildered condition. He was stunned; he wasn't expecting her to come up with such a solution. It was considered dark magic and not allowed.

"We are not in England anymore, and we are not under the Ministry's rule. The ritual I am proposing is a mating of you and Harry while focusing on each other's magical core and the consecration of fusing your cores together. It will do two things, it will release his bound magic so he may draw on it and if done correctly, it will cut the connection to Voldemort once and for all. But there is one thing we need to do before we can perform the ritual."

"Oh, and what would that be, Ms Prince?" he asked with a bored expression on his face. He still hadn't made the connection of the name, assuming it was another family of Prince. His mother had been cut off when she married his muggle father and as far as he knew he was the last of the line. Inside he was a bundle of nerves, but he would be damned if he was going to let her see that.

"We need to remove your body art from your left forearm."

"You are talking about the dark mark?" The bored expression returned to one of astonishment. "It cannot be removed!" Suddenly Severus spirits deflated like a popped balloon. He could not help Harry after all. Once again he was cursed by the transgressions of his past and his heart filled with deep despair.

"I would not have suggested it, if I could not do it." Becca said in a very matter of fact expression. "Why do you think I recommended it?"

Severus repeated himself getting exasperated as she didn't understand him. "The dark mark cannot be removed by anyone but the Dark Lord and he does not remove them. Are you telling me you are related to him in some way and have a secret that no one else does?" Severus was worried now, he had trusted this woman and she was saying she could remove the mark. Only someone from the Dark Lord's line could possibly do that. Who was she?

"To answer your question, no and yes. Severus, I am not descended from the Dark Lord, in fact, I am descended from you and Harry, including Harry's gift for parsletongue magic. Do you want it removed or not?" Becca was getting exasperated with him and it showed in her tone of voice. "I can tell you that good old Voldy is leeching magic from **you **as well as Harry, and Harry's magic is almost gone. Once Harry's magic is completely eradicated he will not be able to continue to live. The health of all witches and wizards is based on their magical core, even squibs have a certain amount of dependency to it, but they just can't access it to use it as magic."

"You promise me, you are not going to kill me or Harry? I don't understand where you came from, but Harry needs me." The truth was the older man needed his soulmate just as much. Severus was stunned for a second time today. Everything was turning upside down in his life and he just wanted to sit down and process everything that had happened to him and to his young lover. Merlin, was it only this morning he was brewing Wolfsbane potion?

"I already swore on my magic, is there anything else I can do to convince you?" Severus shook his head no and knowing they didn't have time for further discussion held out his left arm to her. They needed to help Harry and he was not opposed to being free from that psychotic sociopath either. He didn't really believe she could do what she was telling him. He knew it was impossible but he would humor her and was not opposed to being free on the off chance she was correct.

"I have to say, this may hurt a little bit, it's tied to your magical core and we are going to free it." Severus just nodded his head in assent. He didn't think it could hurt any worse than it did when he received the stupid mark in the first place.

Becca started hissing in parsletongue, _"Release this man from your bond, he no longer belongs to you."_

Then to Severus' amazement and similar sound was coming from his arm as the snake in the mark swirled. _"Why do you bother me speaker?"_

Becca responded _"You are no longer welcome, release this man he is bonded to another"_

The snake replied _"Yes, you are right but he has made a vow"_

Becca then commanded with authority and a tone that almost sounded like a sneer. "_A vow that was secured with lies and deceptions, you must leave now. You are a squatter in property that does not belong to you. Magic has chosen another and you must bow to her will."_ With that the snake swirled around Severus' arm as if in agony and lifted in a cloud of black smoke. Severus was gritting his teeth in pain as it pulled on his magic but it really was not as much pain as it was to get it in the first place. He looked down at his clear arm in amazement. He never thought to see his bare arm without the grotesque mark and he felt freer than ever before. His heart was racing with some unknown emotion and for the first time since he arrived at the Dursley's house this morning he felt hopeful that Harry would be fine too.

He turned back to Becca and said "Now that you have freed me from that appalling megalomaniac what do you want in return?" There was always a payment of some kind in the works when someone did a favor of this magnitude and he was afraid of what she would want when this was over.

"I want to be born and to live. "Becca said reminding him that she was descended from them both and would not be born without them. "Now we have to go help Harry." Becca said as she walked into the next room where Harry was still hooked up on tubes and oxygen. He looked so small and helpless lying there.

"Harry?" The young woman said trying to get his attention. "Harry can you hear me?" She motioned for Severus to come closer and when he was next to her she whispered "You speak to him, he will respond better to you."

Severus tried to wake his sleeping mate and after several "Harry's" he finally came around and turned his head toward Sev's voice. He didn't open his eyes however. He was too weak and just wanted to sleep. Becca seeing this stepped away to speak with 'Doc' to see what they could do.

"We need to do something; I don't think he even has the strength to look into Severus' magical core or to connect with it." Becca looked at her lifelong family friend, pleading with him to come up with an answer.

Doc looked tired with his pepper gray hair falling into his face and the now dark circles under his eyes. "We probably could boost his energy for a brief time; did you go over the ritual with Severus?" Doc looked over at the younger version of his old time friend. "He seems a little calm for knowing what that old man did to his soulmate." Becca suddenly got a look of alarm on her face.

"Oops I forgot. I better do that now while Harry is still asleep. She stepped over to Severus to speak to him. "There are some things we need to discuss before we do this ritual. To get it right there are things that need to be known and focused on as the ritual begins." Becca looked up at Severus face but he just looked at her with his patent blank stare. "There is something on Harry's right inner thigh that you need to see. I want to lift the sheet so I can reveal it to you." Severus nodded and Becca lifted the end of the sheet so that only Harry's right thigh was exposed. "_Reveal yourself._" she hissed at the creamy white thigh that was badly bruised. Then much to Severus' incredulity there appeared on Harry's thigh a brand, a sex slave brand, it was faded somewhat but it was there, with the Dumbledore family crest. The brand looked to have been there for years and he didn't understand how the old man could have done that without Harry knowing and he knew Harry was a virgin when they mated.

"Why? Why would he do this?" Severus' shock factor just went up another notch. Too many shocks in one day were not good for an old man, and he was feeling older by the minute. "I don't understand this, Harry was a virgin, I know he was. Why Albus would do this to him I can't imagine."

Becca replied slowly, carefully weighting her words so as not to reveal too much and upset the man further. "We never completely found out. There were veiled references in a diary to some evil magic spell that allowed someone to have sex with a virgin on their seventeenth birthday to steal their powers but we have also found Voodoo books that allow for total mind and soul transference. There is no way for anyone to know what the old man was up to, but this I do know, Harry has had that mark under glamour since he was 15 months old. It only faded since you and he … well, you know…soul bonded"

Becca could see Severus was seething at the actions of one person who was hypothetically on the light side. "This too can be removed with the sex magic ritual. It is not the same as your mark that was done in parsletongue; this was a different kind of spell. I could reveal it with snake language because parsle magic is more powerful than English or Latin, but I cannot remove it with parsletongue." Becca tried to explain further, "When the soul bond forced you guys to merge, there was an orb in the headmaster's office that monitored Harry's actions. Not his whereabouts, but sexual activity. When he found out that Harry was no longer a virgin, he decided to send a letter to his relatives and tell them Sirius Black was dead. Fear of a convicted killer caring about Harry was what kept those people somewhat under control, so they lost it when they read the letter.

"Then this is entirely my fault." Severus sighed "If we hadn't bonded then Harry would not have been attacked."

Seeing the dejected face of the man in front of her, she simply took his hand and pulled him into the next room and over to the sofa, so they could converse without fear of Harry hearing the conversation. This was already going to be hard to say. "Severus, it was not your fault… it was mine." The man's head snapped up to look at her and he saw the remorse and even fear in those eyes that were so much like Harry's.

"How could this be your fault?"

"When I sent you the dreams, at first you were not remembering them. I had to send them from my time; I needed you to trust me. After I arrived in this time, I sent more dreams but the feeling of wellbeing and comfort and love were stronger than they needed to be. I should not have done that. I believe that is what triggered your bond into that wild magic that forced you to mate. I could feel it the last time I visited you in the dreams. I miss calculated and I am sorry."

"You mean I had sex with a fifteen year old because you 'miscalculated'?" Severus was not happy. If his temper could physically manifest, Becca was sure she would see steam coming out of his ears. "Harry is going to be a father at the age of sixteen because you 'miscalculated'?" Now Severus' eyes were spitting fire at her. "I became a pedophile because you miscalculated?" Severus started to rise in his seat, caught a glimpse of Harry lying in the bed in the next room and then just as suddenly sat back down. He rubbed the heels of his palms over his eyes and seemed to get more control over himself. Harry, he was the most important thing now, he would have to save this conversation for later when there was more time for reflection on whose fault it was. "So how do we save Harry? I don't want to lose him because you miscalculated again." Okay, that was a low blow, but it was no less than she deserved.

"I am so sorry Severus; I didn't know it would have that reaction. This has not been done in almost a thousand years and I have no one to guide me through it. I only stumbled across the spell to send dreams but there was no reference to send them over time. I am sure I will make more mistakes, hopefully not of this magnitude. Your first born son I now carry was not born until three years from now, but I couldn't let him die either. There are many details you, Harry and I need to go over but right now you need an overview of the ritual at hand.

"I hate to say this," Becca continued, "but I will have to be in the room part of the time at the beginning of the ritual. At the same time you are concentrating on the brand on his thigh, I will be concentrating on the scar on his forehead. It connects him to Voldemort. I can remove it in parsletongue while you work on the other things. As you and Harry keep eye contact, you need to find each others magical core and concentrate on that only, and then after you have found each others cores, you Severus will put your hand on the brand and focus on that and the blocks on Harry's magic. I can't really do that because I will not be seeing his core. Before this whole thing begins you will have to stimulate him and as you find the cores and focus on what needs to happen you will have to enter him and both of you will orgasm at the same time. Once an orgasm is achieved and the energy is released the blocks should disintegrate, if we have done this right. It's all about the adrenaline rush and released endorphins that flow through the body to boost the energy within. " Becca made it sound so clinical but to Severus it only meant one thing.

"So let me get this straight" Severus didn't sound happy again. "You want me to have sex with my soulmate while you are in the same room, absolutely not." Now he looked incensed.

"Severus, I know how this sounds and if we could do it another way, I would suggest it. But this way has the most impact and you have already said you have never done this before." Becca was getting exasperated and said sarcastically, "I could give you a book to read and let you have a few practice sessions and we could do this next week after you learn how, but Harry **doesn't have a week**. This needs to be done now and the healers have already tried to remove the blocks, they won't budge. He is still loosing magic to Voldemort and they can't stop it." Becca pleaded with him for a second time that day. "You will be draped with sheets and so will Harry so I won't see anything below his chest. No one else will be looking and –"

"I get it. Let's get this over with; I want my soulmate back." Severus got up and walked back into the room where Harry still lay sleeping. He was wondering if he **could** do this with someone else in the room. He was not into exhibitionism. Becca Accio-ed a bottle of specially prepared lotion and handed it to Severus. He looked at her with a quirked eyebrow.

"You need to use this to massage Harry. First his thighs, then his gro-"

"Never mind," Severus jumped in "I got the idea."

The healers were able to infuse Harry with a combination of Pepper-Up Potion and jump starting his core as Becca had done earlier that day.

When Harry woke, Severus explained what they were doing and what was wrong. He didn't tell him about being branded or that Dumbledore had applied blocks to his magic. He just told him about the core and Voldemort's connection and how they were going to get rid of it. Considering how he had been tormented with said connection, he didn't really put up too much of a fuss when he found out Becca would be there for part of the ritual so she could release his tie to the megalomaniac.

After they had made a few adjustments to the bed, to center it over the pentagram on the floor and then had Severus and Harry draped to allow for maximum modesty, they pulled partitions to three sides of the bed leaving only enough room for Becca to touch Harry's forehead. Becca started the ritual by calling upon the two great powers of old and the four corners.

"I invoke the presence of the great power from the time of old, the power of earth and water, and the power of air and fire. I invoke the presence of the North, South East and West. I beseech you to come and help this innocent that has been touch and surrounded by evil, we revoke the evil within that has forced itself on this child of innocence and we pray for your favor to rid him of this unwanted squatter." The air picked up in the room and started a gentle breeze. Becca calmly started to speak in a soft voice to the two men, "Severus, you and Harry must look into each other's eyes and find the core now. Harry, look into Severus' eyes and see his magical core within, let yourself get lost in the color and sense of it. You will have to drop your Occlumency shields to get this right. Severus, start massaging Harry with a slow swirling patter, moving your hands together in opposite directions, making sure to fully cover his right thigh with the lotion then repeat the process until you work your way to his hips and then slowly prepare him" Becca then turned her attention to the scar on Harry's head. Speaking in parsletongue she said _"You are not wanted here and have no business in this being. You must leave immediately. You are a squatter and have no rights in this world and must move on to the next."_

The curse scar began to answer and the young woman heard a voice hissing in her head._ "I have been here many years and do not wish to leave. I was purchased for this very purpose and was placed in this property._"

Becca then answered the fragment of soul in Harry's head. "_You have been a squatter from the first day. Purchased by the death of this property's owners but not by him, you must leave as fate has reclaimed this property for her use_. _He is bonded to another and his soulmate now owns the right to him. You must leave_" "She then heard a "_Yes Master_" in her head and just knew the evil had heard and obeyed.

Now that the spirit contained in the scar had acknowledged her words Becca slowly and carefully left the room so as not to distract the two lovers and to give them some privacy. She was now sure that Voldemort's connection and the leaching of power would be disconnected as soon as the blocks were off. It was up to Severus now. She walked into the sitting room and looked around, everyone was there drinking tea and having refreshments waiting to see what would happen next. Becca looked at Doc and said, "Severus is a good man and knows what to do, it will all be instinct now. The magic will show him what he needs to know." Doc nodded and then she said "I have to leave and get a few things can you let Severus know if he finishes before I get back?"

Doc nodded again "Be careful Becca, they have many enemies and now you do too. You should take one of us with you." He was worried about the amount of power she had been using lately.

Becca gave him a cheeky grin "So what else is new?" With that parting remark she portkeyed back to Grimmauld Place.


	13. A New Bond

The Third Time is a Charm

Disclaimer: I do not own or have interest in any of the Harry Potter universe. I admire J. K. Rowling for entertaining us with her world of make believe and do not make any money from writing this story, I just like to have fun and borrow her characters for a while but I promise to put them back so someone else can borrow them later.

**Warning: **Explicit sex scenes, Severus will be very OOC and a host of other characters.

Chapter 13: A New Bond

Severus had taken the vial of lotion from Becca and carefully got onto the bed with Harry, not wanting to disturb him too much. Even though the tubes and oxygen were removed, he looked vulnerable and small with bruises still on his body that would take several days to disappear. He checked to see where Becca was and only saw her hand on Harry's head over the lightning bolt scar. He didn't feel comfortable with this but as Harry moaned and turned to look at him, then gave him a nod, Severus knew his love was alright with this. The top part of the bed had been raised so that Harry was half sitting up and as Severus looked into Harry's eyes and started to focus on Harry's magical core, he could hear Becca gently giving directions and he lifted the sheet that was preventing him from getting to Harry's thighs so he could start massaging him. He then checked one more time to make sure Becca was out of sight, and removed his clothes. He poured some of the lotion on his hands and rubbed it into his palms to warm it up and was startled as he worked with the liquid, it felt like silk. It was so soothing and smelled lightly of lavender; briefly he wondered where it came from as it was like nothing he had ever felt before.

Moving his eyes momentarily to get his bearings, Severus positioned himself at the juncture of Harry's thighs and gently touched the inside of the right thigh, getting the whole area covered before beginning with the other leg. With a sudden thought of clarity, he remembered Harry complaining about his thigh hurting when they had completed the accidental soul bonding that first night. This was likely connected since it was under glamour since his Harry was fifteen months old. Albus Dumbledore had a lot to pay for. Severus shook his head to clear his thoughts and get back to the task at hand, helping his Harry.

The soft silkiness of the lotion made his hands glide over the area as though sliding through water and he marveled at the feel of touching Harry's skin. He touched his right hand to Harry's left thigh and looked to see if Harry was still with him and not passing out again. There was a low thrumming coming from the bed and Severus wondered if it was the magic flowing through the air making it do that.

Now Severus was moving his hands, one on each thigh, in circular motions, his long powerful fingers moving to the thrum coming from the bed. His right hand moving up and out to the right in a circular motion as the left following the same pattern but up and to the left, each in perfect symmetry to the sound waves flowing through their bodies. Then Severus shifted a bit and moved to Harry's hips. Very slowly Severus continued to massage Harry; going up to the tops of his thighs and closer to that part of Harry that Severus wanted to get more familiar with. The yearning in Severus' heart and the waves of energy had the older man, once again, looking up to see if his Harry was doing alright. His face was still battered although it did look much better than when he first brought him in. The jaw was reset and the bruising was already fading, he was breathing almost normally and all the broken bones had been reset and healed. They must have used some powerful healing potions and spells to get him in this shape. Severus had thought it would take at least a week for Harry to be this mobile. But his lover actually looked more energetic than earlier and returned Severus gazed straight into his eyes. This time finally seeing beyond the color and straight into his magical core Severus noticed that Harry's core was barely lit and he could actually see the blocks, like murky transparent walls around the dim light. That must be the blocks he was suppose to try to break down.

Harry could see Severus' core as well. It was like seeing a bright star in a clear cloudless sky with shades of green, silver and gold running through it, twinkling so brightly it guided Harry straight to it. The young man almost felt he could touch it and he took comfort in the fact that Severus was here to help him. He could feel the massage getting closer to his most intimate area and was thankful that no one but his soul mate had ever been this close to him before. It was so right for it to be Severus, the man he loved beyond anything else. Then Severus touched him and he wanted to float into heaven. The strong fingers that held such gentleness in their depths and the softest silkiest lotion Harry had ever felt, stroking him into hardness and gliding over and under him. Harry hitched his breath in anticipation of his lover's next move. He didn't have long to wait.

Severus was worried about the shape and lack of light to Harry's core. Now he knew why the other healers were so willing to try this so soon after healing the broken bones in Harry's body. He maintained his gaze into Harry's eyes as he touched his lover more intimately and stroked along Harry's now hardening member, feeling each vein, bump and ridge and then the mushroom head, memorizing the feel of it, smearing the fluid already leaking out and stroking in anticipation of this bonding more than the last. His deep desire to taste the flavor of Harry was almost irresistible but that would have to wait for another time. The last bonding had been fast and they came together while almost asleep, this one was planned and Severus knew he would remember so much more this time. He stroked lower now, taking each warm globe in his hand gently holding and stroking, letting the lotion cover them before moving closer to the prize underneath. Severus shifted slightly again and moved Harry's hips for better access to what he wanted most from his lover. Pouring more lotion into his hand he then began to manipulate his fingers around the sweet opening to his lover, that special place, which was begging even now to be filled. Severus tenderly probed the tight opening with his thumb using the soft pad to push and stimulate the area waiting for it to relax so he could enter, as if asking permission from Harry to penetrate him.

If Harry had not been so drained he would have jumped Severus right there and demanded he fuck him right now. Harry looked at Severus and saw the light shining from his eyes and moaned in response to the probing of his sweet opening that so wanted Severus to do MORE!

Severus spoke to his love in a hushed murmur "Harry, love, if you push a little, while I enter, it will ease the pain of our joining. Can you do that love?" Harry nodded his head and waited for Severus to do whatever he was doing again. It felt so right and he wanted it to never stop. Severus started probing 'that spot' again. Oh, how much Harry wanted him. Harry did as his lover asked and started to push just a little against Severus' thumb that was asking for entrance at his opening again. Severus slipped his thumb in and stroked inside of Harry. Harry lifted up his hips, and moaned "more, please more, oh please" as his lover stroked back and forth a few times. Oh, yes, that was good the younger man thought but not enough.

"Harry, calm down sweetheart, I don't want you to hurt yourself, we have all the time in the world to do this and I want you to enjoy it." Severus lovingly pulled Harry's hips down again and continued to stroke the young man while adding a finger to start stretching him. It was easier to stroke and scissor at the opening using the thumb and index finger, stretching and preparing with the thumb while hitting the sweet bundle of nerves with the finger at the same time. He just knew it would drive Harry wild. His left hand he placed around the base of Harry's throbbing and leaking shaft holding his hips in place as he curled his hand and squeezed to keep his young lover from coming too soon. He listened to the little mewling sounds and half words coming from his lover's mouth in rhythm to the waves of magic around the room as he tried to buck and thrust. Severus leaned down and reverently kissed the soft lips for a few seconds before once again looking into his eyes and to his magical core.

Severus removed his hand from Harry's opening and Harry seemed to deflate slightly. He smiled and kissed his young lover and asked "Harry? Are you ready?" The emerald green orbs were full of passion and lust even as they were weak and not as bright as they could have been. He stared into Severus' obsidian gaze; both connecting in a way they had never known was possible and Harry nodded and said in a raspy, emotion filled voice. "More than ready Sev, please I ache for you." With that admission Severus adjusted Harry's hips again and brushed his opening with just the tip of his engorged cock. After passing his hand over it to make sure it was lubed and ready to start its journey down Harry's channel, Severus tenderly gave a slight push that reminded Harry to push out as the older lover was pushing in. Harry with his eyes looking into Severus' complied and felt Severus' own hardness push just past the sphincter muscle as gently as he possible could. Harry felt some discomfort, but not much and Severus was right it did feel better this way. Severus pulled back a little and pushed in again going further into Harry all the while looking into the eyes of his lover.

Harry wanted to scream, he wanted Severus now! He wanted Severus to push harder and ached to be filled by him. He started to mewl and tried to thrust more of himself onto Severus' cock. Then all of a sudden, the man was halfway in. Harry wanted more and more he got. Severus stroked one more time and was finally seated all the way into Harry. He waited for Harry to adjust to the feel of being filled like this but the younger man was having none of that. He started to move but was only able to move a little, his injuries confining his actions and Severus could not stop from returning the favor. Pulling back and pushing back, hitting that special sweet spot and making Harry shout "more, please Sev" and so Severus pulled back again and pushed in faster, hitting that spot again until Harry was seeing stars. He and Harry were so close. Harry could feel his orgasm drawing up his sacs and the tingling racing down his spine into his groin, with the steady rhythm getting stronger with every stroke. Severus could feel his body pulsating and his heart pounding, moving in and out of Harry's body and the tempo getting stronger as he stabbed into that bundle of nerves again and again, making Harry see fireworks.

The magic swirled in the air, six ribbons of different colors in the richest of green, gold, and royal blue, purple, silver and a rich burgundy red going faster in a clockwise circle. It was under them and around and through them, making itself known as pure energy raced through them with every pass. Severus tried to hold off for a few more strokes. He grabbed Harry's cheek with the palm of this hand and said "Harry look at me!" When Harry looked at Severus, their eyes were glowing with magic and Severus held Harry's head so he couldn't break the connection. His other hand had a hold of Harry's leg, pushing it toward Harry's chest so he had better access to his lover. When the explosion came, both men coming at the same time with shouts of "Harry!" while "Severus" came out the younger man's mouth, and the thrumming came to a crescendo. It was like an explosion, a kaleidoscope of colors and Severus took Harry's lips with his own in a kiss before breaking to pant from the exertion of moments before. Severus skillfully rolled Harry to be on top of him leaving him straddled across his hips but still connected, while pulling the sheet over them both before falling into an exhausted sleep.

Neither man noticed the destruction of the room, how the privacy partitions were now blown into the walls nor that there was a small table turned into firewood for all the pieces it was in. They also never gave another thought to Becca or her uncomfortable presence at the beginning and didn't even know when she had left the room.

The team of healers listened for the men in the other room after a loud crash, but did not want to disturb their privacy. They briefly flipped on a monitor and saw the two men lying in bed together apparently sleeping, glowing with the energy that surrounded them. Doc looked at the others and said "I guess that was a success. Let's get some sleep ourselves." With that the healers went to their respective guest rooms to get some much needed rest.

Meanwhile, Becca was up to something else.

Becca popped into the entryway of Grimmauld Place and immediately wrapped herself in a special cloak given to her by her great granddad. The first thing she noticed was there was not a single thing left in the house. Kreacher must have taken her seriously and packed everything, including all the furniture. She didn't want to get caught by surprise so she put cushioning charms on her feet and continued into the house. She was right to be so guarded. She could hear voices from the kitchen. Who was here? She crept slowly and silently to listen at the door. "We don't know where everything went. There was nothing here when we arrived." It was someone young, a male, probably Harry's age she would guess. Then another voice, this time female and whiny "All the books are gone too and there is nothing to read here. We can't stay here; there are no beds or any other kind of furniture." Then another voice, older, a parent maybe said, "We have tried to contact Dumbledore, when he gets the owl, he will let us know what to do. We just have to wait till we hear from him." Then another younger female said "Yeah, but in the meantime there is nothing for us to do. We don't even have a place to sit."

Well this was interesting, Becca thought. She knew Dumbledore would not be in a mood to deal with these people, he was probably lamenting right now about how he can't find his prize pawn. She warded the kitchen door so no one could come out, and then made her way to the room with the tapestry, the Black family room.

Removing a rug from the middle of the floor, she uncovered the family crest underneath of what at one time was a priceless oriental rug but had now dulled with age and neglect. She took out a dagger and cut her right hand across the palm very shallowly. She then squeezed her hand into a fist and let seven drops of blood fall onto the crest. The symbol on the floor flared with a bright white light briefly and she declared. "As the heir of the Ancient and Noble House of Black, I reclaim this house for the families it rightfully belongs to, the Black family, the Malfoy family, the Potter family, the Prince family and the Snape family. All others will be immediately banished until such time as their identity can be established. So mote it be." She then let another seven drops of dark red blood drop on the crest and it flared again accepting and sealing her sacrifice, signifying the house was now warded and no one but the family could enter without permission. Moving back toward the kitchen door, she listened for the voices but heard none. She took a small pot of healing paste from her robe and healed her hand then whispered a quick "Kreacher" and the little elf popped in the room, eyes wide with wonder and bowing to his mistress.

"Mistress called?" Kreacher said surprisingly respectfully.

"Are our unwanted visitors gone?"

"Yes, Mistress, all are gone. The mudblood and blood traitors were thrown out of the house." Kreacher bowed again. "The wards have been reset to the Mistress' commands."

Becca figured that was about as much respect as she ever would get from the funny little elf. She then asked him, "Do you still have the locket that Regulus gave you to destroy, Kreacher?" Kreacher looked anguished and nodded his head. "Kreacher bad elf, could not destroy it, could not open it. Kreacher bad elf punished his self and tried again but could not do it." He started wailing and banging his head against the floor until Becca stopped him.

"That's alright, Kreacher, we will destroy it now. Can you go get it for me?" The funny little elf popped out and then popped right back in again.

"Here Mistress, Kreacher has it." He handed the locket to the young woman and she pulled out a bag from her pockets. From inside the bag, the young woman pulled out what looked like a tooth; it was the biggest tooth the little elf had ever seen. Becca sat on the floor cross legged and laid the tooth down on the floor along with the locket. She explained to the elf that it was not his fault and she was here to help with his instructions.

"Kreacher, you could not open it and destroy it because it has a secret password. This tooth is that of a basilisk and it will be able to destroy the evil within the locket. You cannot blame yourself for not having the proper tools to do the job." She then hissed "_Open_" at the locket and Kreacher, eyes wide and fearful, backed up into the corner of the room as if she were going to strike at any moment. Becca rolled her eye with impatience as the locket sprung open and she stabbed both sides of the locket with the tooth. A mist of black inky smoke rose from the locket and was gone. The locket was destroyed. She then returned the tooth to its protective pouch.

Kreacher started wailing again and then thanked his mistress for helping him fulfill his orders from his dead master. Merlin, these elves were such an emotional lot.

"Kreacher, do you have the trunks with everything packed in them?" Becca was getting a little tired, she needed to eat and she had more errands to run. Kreacher nodded and handed her the trunks she asked for. "Now, Kreacher, is there anything you need or want?"

"Mistress said I could go to Lady Malfoy if I packed the house. Kreacher want to go with you instead. Mistress Becca very powerful and knows pureblood ways, Kreacher being happy to serve Mistress Becca." She sat there not knowing what to do. She did not need another house elf, especially one that was so persnickety. But she could not refuse his request. He was already Harry's elf even though she suspected Harry didn't want him, but Kreacher could serve her too and he was definitely respectful to her. Maybe you **can** teach and old elf new tricks.

"Well, come then Kreacher, we have to go to Hogwarts." Kreacher ginned and followed his new mistress to the Hogwarts kitchens. When he saw that she could portkey straight into the school, he knew she was very knowledgeable and would bring him long life. He also knew her to be a kind witch, unlike some of the others he had served. No one could portkey into the school without the headmaster's approval and he knew the headmaster of the school did not know she was here. She had to be related to one of the founders to be able to pop into the school like that.

Becca was ravenous when she landed in the kitchen of Hogwarts, so the first thing the young woman did when she got there was ask the elves for a sandwich and a glass of pumpkin juice. They were happy to obey.

Becca looked around at the house elves surrounding her and for the first time since she had come here, she felt overwhelmed and apprehensive. She refused to acknowledge she was scared but it was there all the same. When she had come up with this plan and her great grandfathers agreed, she had never felt the enormity of it, nor did she realize how many things could go wrong. It was only day one, or was it day two. She was tired and needed some rest. The moving of the fetus had taken a great amount of power and she needed to restore her energy levels.

How was she going to be able to help all these beings and keep them safe?


	14. Reclaiming Harry’s Property

The Third Time is a Charm

Disclaimer: I don't own the HP Universe. I admire. Rowling for entertaining us with her world of make believe. I don't make any money from writing this story, I just like to have fun and borrow her characters for a while but I promise to put them back so someone else can borrow them later.

**Warning: **Explicit sex scenes, Severus will be very OOC and a host of other characters

Chapter 14: Reclaiming Harry's Property

Becca was just sitting at the small table in the kitchen at Hogwarts while Kreacher was staring at her. She drank her juice and took small bites out of her sandwich and could feel the fatigue setting in. She had done too much hopping from one place to another in addition to the other things today and she knew she needed rest. Kreacher appeared to be of the same opinion.

"Mistress need rest. Mistress can't do without rest in her condition." Kreacher scolded his new Mistress with a wag of his finger at her.

"Yes, Kreacher," she told the funny little elf, "I will have to get some rest, but first I must speak with the head elf of the castle." Without even calling his name the elf suddenly materialized in front of her.

"Mistress Becca, I have done what you asked. Here are the trunks all packed." The young woman accepted the trunks as she noted that all four trunks were labeled with the room of what was packed in them. Each trunk was from a different part of the castle, Potions Classroom and Office, Potions Living Quarters, Headmasters Office and Study and Headmasters Living Quarters. She put them into one of her many pockets hidden in her stylish royal blue robes. It was something she had learned from her grandfather. He always had many pockets and would hide little surprises for her in them. She thought in retrospect about him now, and then with a shake of her head gave her attention back to the room of elves.

"Has everyone been informed of what to expect?" When the head elf nodded his head, she pulled out a package of scarves from another pocket and continued. "There are two hundred scarves in here for each of the house elves that want to leave. They are portkeys and need to be worn so that you can be transported at the appropriate time. If any elf wants to stay at this Hogwarts you may. There will be another Hogwarts at the time line we are going to, but some of the elves will be given other duties away from the school. These are not to be looked at as clothes and will be returned to me when we are settled. Does everyone understand?" The few house elves that were in the kitchen all nodded their heads and bowed respectfully. "Good, now you may ask for more portkeys if you need them and more than one being can use them also. I need to leave and bring the trunks to their respective owners. I will return tomorrow, after I have rested and we will continue packing. Tomorrow afternoon I will need a small contingent of elves to volunteer to help pack the Chamber of Secrets. We need the information that is contained in several of the small anterooms off the main chamber. We also need to dissect and pack the preserved basilisk that remains there."

"It will be done, Mistress." The head elf said. Then he got a strange look on his face and said in a hushed voice "Mistress, the headmaster comes this way, you need to leave." She knew she could stay, as one of the Heir's descendents she had control of the school and the elves but she didn't want to battle with that old fool right now so she heeded the warning of the old head elf.

Becca inclined her head and stood up. "Kreacher, you will need to come with me. Where we are going you cannot apparate to. She bent over and picked up Kreacher and held him in her arms telling him to hold on tight then grabbed her necklace just as the headmaster was tickling the pear; she disappeared from sight without a sound.

Becca arrived in the small room the healers had vacated a few hours before. She put Kreacher down and told him to follow her and that he could sleep in her bedroom as there were no quarters for elves where they were. The elf's eyes grew large and round and he squeaked in surprise.

"Oh no Mistress, not proper to do that. Kreacher be taking a corner in the kitchen but can't sleep in Mistress' room." The little being was so upset he started to pull on his ear, twisting it with worry and fear.

"Kreacher, I may need your help, I am not used to being pregnant and may need someone to get help if I feel sick. You will be there to help me." Becca assured him as she watched the distraught elf think about what she said.

"Kreacher can do as Mistress Becca commands." He looked at her with pride in his eyes. "A good elf, Kreacher being." Becca smiled and accepted his appraisal of himself with quiet humor. Elves could be so emotional.

Becca flicked on a monitor to see if her two men survived their earth shattering experience. She looked at the monitor fondly, seeing the men sleeping on the bed. The smaller of the two lying on the chest of the other man and having placed his arms slightly under the shoulders of his partner, palms up, as if holding on for dear life with his thighs straddled across the older man's hips, legs bent at the knees to fold back on each side. It didn't look very comfortable, but they seem to be sleeping well. The pale golden glow was still surrounding their bodies and she knew that all the pure magic was unbound and the evil dark stain that had been in Harry's soul was gone. The older man had his arms loosely around the younger man's waist and the most peaceful expression that Becca had seen in a long time. She chose not to wake them and flicking off the monitor, made a gesture to Kreacher for him to follow and sleepily made her way to her sleeping quarters.

The room was not much, but it was comfortable. It wasn't as if she lived here, it was just temporary quarters for a few days. The queen size bed was lush and covered in a white comforter with white Egyptian cotton sheets and white blinds at the windows. The floor was covered in plush emerald green carpet and the walls reflected the carpet in a soft sea green. There was a small white love seat in front of the fireplace that was big enough for Kreacher to take a nap on. It had a multi colored throw blanket on it that would do for the elf. The adjoining bathroom was of the same color as the bedroom and she turned to it to take a hot shower.

When she entered the bathroom, she immediately turned on the shower and adjusted the temperature, pulled one of the sea foam green towels off the shelf and stripped to get into the refreshingly hot water. Becca right away noticed the small bulge in her stomach and gave pause for the child she now was playing host to. She had been so busy that she had not thought through the ramifications the pregnancy would have on her plans. Having grown up in such a sheltered world and never having been pregnant before, she wondered how much this would change her life even for a little while.

She knew she would miss the baby and the two men if they did not want to come with her on her designated assignment. She was to start a new time line to keep Harry Potter from suffering the way he had done in this time line. He was not raised to be the self confident and intelligent man that he was suppose to be. He hadn't grown up trained as he should have been. There was a wealth of knowledge he should have been raised on that the current Harry didn't even know yet. The fact was, the Dark Lord Voldemort and Dumbledore had too much power and had gotten away with too much to be able to properly fix this time line. Too many people had already died that were to be a major part of the Wizarding World's stabilization to the old ways. From the very foundations of the earth the original great power had made promises for all magical creatures and had watched as the world declined into this light and dark issue and completely ignored the evil that had taken over both sides. They all needed to be trained in the true power of the race and stop their foolishness.

The truth was magic was both light and dark, and the caster was either good or evil. She was here to put the proper balance back into perspective. Right now there were two evil, powerful wizards vying for power. One was a dark wizard that powered his magic off the negative forces that came from the earth, and the other was a light wizard that powered his magic off the positive forces that came from the earth. Both light and dark were to work in conjunction with each other as polar opposites for you can't have one without the other, but the opposites were not to imply opposition. The balance of power was very slanted toward evil and was going to cause a breakdown in the complete existence of magic and life as it was currently known. True, there could not be a world of good without evil, but it was the imbalance that was posing the threat.

She was concerned that, with a child on the way, they would not want take any more risks and instead raise their son on their own. But this time line was fraught with more danger and problems. Still, they may want a better life and would be willing to take the risks. Becca's mind was a swirl of thoughts and she couldn't seem to stop them.

She shampooed her hair and washed with the special soap she loved so much that smelled of honey and lavender. Finally feeling relaxed and clean, she stepped out of the shower, picked up the towel and wrapped herself in it while walking back into the bedroom. Standing there was Kreacher with her bathing robe in his hand waiting for her. She was grateful for the little help he could give her as she took and put on the robe, and then let the towel drop to the floor. The little elf picked up the towel and went into the bathroom make sure it was sparkling clean for the next time she needed it. Becca just smiled and climbed into bed and was asleep even before her head hit the pillow. She didn't even feel the gentle thrumming when it started five minutes later.

The next morning in another room, two souls sticky and sweaty were just beginning to rouse. Severus felt the heavy weight on top of his chest and stomach and looked down to see the messy black hair that could only belong to one person. He shifted his arms that were around Harry's waist to stroke his long tapered fingers through the untidy locks savoring the feel of the silkiness in his hand as he buried his face in its softness. He wanted to wake his mate so they could take a bath but was taking so much pleasure in the feel of each breath Harry took as he slept on. Severus was reminded of how close he had come to losing the young man and tightened his arms around him. He never wanted to live through something like that again.

Severus shifted a bit and became aware of the position in which Harry was sleeping. His legs were folded up at Severus' side as the young man was straddled across his thighs. Then he was very cognizant of the fact that he was hard and wanted Harry NOW! Desire shot through him as he shifted some more, getting Harry into a better position, moving him to the side so he could straighten his legs and stretch. Harry moaned in his sleep as he stretched and again Severus felt a jolt of desire run through his chest to his groin where he was aching to be inside Harry again. He put one hand under the young man's chin and tilted his head into a better position so he could taste the sweetness he craved.

He gently kissed Harry's mouth to see if he would get a response. The young man slightly pursed his lips and moaned but continued to sleep although his breathing changed a little. Severus did it again, Harry stilled as if waiting for something, when the older man kissed him a third time, young arms reached out and grabbed hold of him and this time he was kissed back. Harry started to giggle but the laughter soon turned into whimpers as Severus moved his hands down his back to grab his bottom and pulled him forward, connecting both morning erections together in a greeting of their own. Harry began moving his hardened shaft against Severus and mewling in those little noises the older man was learning to appreciate so much. Severus, though, had a different idea.

"Harry," Severus started to say, his voice hoarse with sleep, but Harry was rubbing against him and distracting him with his cute little sounds and his rock hard erection lining up with his own to rub together. "Harry," Severus tried again with a little more volume to his voice and actually got his mate to look at him. "Can we take this to the bathroom and have a nice long shower?" Severus was thinking about several things he would like to do with Harry and a shower was only the start of his list. Harry nodded and they got out of bed and put on the robes lying at the foot of the bed, then looked around for a bathing room. Their eyes surveyed the room and grew wide.

The room was about half the size of the infirmary at Hogwarts. Although there was only one bed in it, it was obvious the room could hold a dozen or more. It was likely used for several different occasions but was outfitted just for Harry at this time. They hadn't noticed before, but the partitions were smashed into the walls and the bedside table was in so many pieces not even a repairing charm could fix it. There was broken glass scattered on the white marble floor from a vial and the lotion container was also smashed on the floor with lotion spilled in a big puddle. In fact, the only thing that seemed to be in one piece was the bed itself.

"Um… Severus… what happened to this room?" Harry asked hesitantly. The room looked like a tornado struck. Chairs overturned and mangled most everything destroyed and yet the bed had not moved. He was so drained yesterday he didn't remember too much, but today he was sure it hadn't look like _this_ when he had come in here.

"Harry," Severus said just as hesitantly. "I think _we_ happened" as he looked around at the destruction surrounding him. Severus spied a door at the end of the room marked 'Bathroom' and steered Harry in that general direction, keeping watch for any small pieces of glass that may be on the floor. They padded their way to the door carefully then opened it and looked inside.

It was obvious that some great power had happened in here too. The marbled wall that was on the same side as the bed chamber was slightly cracked. It had tiny fissures all on the one side, but the remainder of the room was alright. Harry stepped into the bathroom and looked around. It was floor to ceiling beautiful white marble with green veins running through it.

The towels were white with green edging and on one shelf in the room lay green scrubs in various sizes, like you would see in a muggle hospital. Until they could locate their belongings, if anything was here, they would have to make do with the scrubs on the shelf to change into. They quickly found their sizes and then Severus turned to start the shower. After a rapid adjustment he declared the water just right. The older man saw the soaps and shampoos on the shelf then silently lead his partner into the rush of warm spray to remove the evidence of yesterday's activities. The shower could have accommodated five men. It was huge with three shower jets, one on each of the three shower walls so they would get water from every angle.

The thunder of the warm water pounding over them was heavenly. They let the pulsating jets massage their backs as they moved around the shower stall. Eventually Harry confronted Severus with "I believe we interrupted ourselves a little while ago, now… what were we doing?" He moved toward the older man, admiring the way his body moved and the well toned chest. Severus was a good six inches taller than him but he really liked it that way. When he was standing right in front of him and bent slightly, he could cover one of his nipples with his mouth just right. His head moved forward and he latched on, loving the taste of the older man's skin and suckling gently at first but with more passion as his confidence was rewarded with Severus making those encouraging sounds.

Severus reached behind his back and pulled some liquid soap off the shelf and grabbing a flannel poured some onto the cloth so he could scrub Harry's back. As much as he liked the attention he was getting from the younger man's mouth, he was not about to let the boy wonder have the upper hand in this relationship at least not right now. He turned the young man around so that his back had water sluicing over it from one of the powerful jets on the wall. It felt wonderful to have a hand in giving Harry his shower today, considering how badly injured he was just yesterday. Severus, after washing the younger man's back, being very gentle to not rub too hard over the multitude of bruises that could be seen, moved lower to other more intimate parts, thoroughly washing and inspecting the other aspects of Harry's body making him ready for his morning calisthenics. Oh, yes, he was going to teach him more techniques this morning.

"Harry, love, I need you to put your legs around my waist." Severus said while placing his hands around the slender waist of his partner in front of him. Harry looked at Severus with a devilish glint in his eyes and gave a little hop while the older man helped him get his legs in position. But his legs had soap all over them and he was slipping so Severus knocked all the little soap and shampoo bottles from the little shelf built into the marble and pushed Harry up against the wall to better hold him. Now he had the young man right where he wanted him. He held Harry's legs open with his forearms holding him up, his raging cock, engorged dark red in color, begging entrance to the place he ached the most to fill. He kissed Harry to distract him, hoping the soap and shampoo they had been using was going to be enough lubricant as he couldn't wait any longer. He wanted to delve into that firm ass, needed it like one needs the air they breathe. He kissed his young lover and his tongue was mimicking the movements he was about to engage in farther down, gasping for breath and still his mouth trying to desperately get into more of Harry. Then when he thought he could not take it any longer, he pushed hard into Harry in one fluid motion with a thrust of his hips that would have knocked him over if the older man didn't have a good grip on him.

The green eyed beauty grunted as his older lover pushed into him. Harry looked into his lover's face and saw the lust driven glint in the obsidian eyes. "Severus! Please more!" Harry shouted as he tried to reach and meet each thrust that was coming faster and faster. "Ah, yes there… more… "

"You love this, don't you my bond mate. You love my cock in you, splitting you apart; you were made just for me." Severus was panting and with each thrust could feel Harry's channel tighten around him and he was not sure how much longer he could last. "Feel me inside you Harry, you need it. You crave and hunger for me to fill you up to complete you." Severus was no longer worried about his mate wanting him or that he was too old, he just wanted to keep the young man forever. "You are mine!" He shouted to Harry and knew he meant it. No one would ever be able to take him away again.

"Yes, yours Severus… I belong to you… and only you." Harry whimpered as he could feel an electric jolt coming down his back and ripping straight to his groin, then he yelled out "Severus" as he came, gushing large amounts of fluid from his raging cock and squeezed around Severus as he too shouted and came. Harry could feel the larger cock spewing its seed into his channel and reveled in the simple act of making love to his only lover.

Severus, after catching his breath, was still inside Harry and began kissing him slowly and savoring the after glow of having _his_ Harry at his mercy. He chuckled a bit or maybe a lot for him and gave a quick thrust at the younger man to get his attention.

"So now that I have you where I want you, what would you like me to do?"

"Hummmmm… I actually wouldn't mind a repeat of your earlier performance, but my stomach says I need to eat." He quirked his eyebrow at Severus but leaned forward to give him another kiss just as his stomach growled. This time the kiss was loving and chaste, not hurried in a fit of passion as it was earlier. "Do you know what the time is?"

"Well," Severus answered with a smile, "I would say it is breakfast time. Let's get cleaned up, finish our shower and see if we can find you some food to eat. You, young man, need your strength."


	15. Explanations

The Third Time is a Charm 9/9/09

Disclaimer: I don't own the HP Universe. I admire. Rowling for entertaining us with her world of make believe. I don't make any money from writing this story, I just like to have fun and borrow her characters for a while but I promise to put them back so someone else can borrow them later.

**Warning: **Explicit sex scenes, Severus will be very OOC and a host of other characters

Chapter 15: Explanations

Severus and Harry quickly donned the green scrubs and started to leave the bathroom to explore other parts of the facility. Severus gently grabbed hold of the younger man's arm to stop him just as they were leaving the disaster area that had functioned as a bedroom/hospital area. He touched his lover very gently, mindful of the bruises that still littered his body.

"Are you alright? How are you feeling?" He actually felt guilty for not asking before and was more than a little surprised that Harry was even able walk, never mind he actually looked like a healthy person with flushed skin and not that sallow, pasty, on the verge of death complexion he was sporting yesterday. He would have to learn more about what happened yesterday and about Harry's magical core, but for now they needed to eat breakfast.

Harry didn't answer his question but just stared at him for a few moments and looked at Severus' arm. "Sev?" Harry inquired with a quirked eyebrow looking at the older man in awe. The scrubs were short sleeved and Harry had a full view of his mate's arms.

"Yes, it's gone. We really need to find out who our little savior is, she spoke to the mark in parsletongue and I don't know of anyone else that can do that besides you and the Dark Lord. If she is affiliated with him, why was she able to take an oath to keep us safe? The oath was real, I know that the magic was true, but there are many ways around the wording and why did she already know the gender and name of the baby? As if she knew what we would name it or she decided to name it herself. I would really like some answers after we get you fed. She told me she was our descendant, but I am not sure how than can be so there has to be some other explanation. " Severus' expression as he was speaking went from wonderment, worried, curiosity and then turned very determined. Harry had never seen so many expressions on the man's face in such a short space of time. Then he turned his obsidian eyes back to the emerald green and sighed, put an arm around his shoulders and walked with his green eyed mate out of the room.

As they were walking down the hall, Harry was thinking about what Severus said, but also everything else that had happened recently. First, he had no sooner come to terms that he was pregnant, and then he wasn't. He got that awful beating from his 'uncle' if that is what you want to call him and almost died. Actually he was ready to die except for wanting to be with Severus. The dreams they both had were about trusting this person. What if she was dark? How did one send dreams in the first place unless they had a lot of dark power? That was how Voldemort did it wasn't it? No, perhaps not, Voldemort was able to do that because of the connection. Actually, he no longer felt that either, his head felt unnaturally clear and… free. He agreed with Severus, they needed some answers.

They walked down the hall, each of them lost in their own thoughts. That is till they found the kitchen and a little elf Harry had thought never to see again was standing there. Said elf was in the kitchen gathering things for tea with a small plate of plain biscuits and he actually looked… well not happy but not miserable either.

"Kreacher!" Harry nearly shouted in the large room. "What are you doing here?" Harry could not imagine how the miserable elf could have made its way here, but then he didn't really know where 'here' was either. "How did you get here, Kreacher?"

"Kreacher being helping Mistress Becca, not feeling well is Mistress Becca. Kreacher being a good elf and getting Mistress something to make sickness go away" said the little elf with a very 'matter of fact' look of determination on his face. Harry just stared at the creature standing in the kitchen, dumbfounded that Kreacher wasn't muttering to himself about mudbloods and miserable blood traitors as he usually did.

"Maybe Harry and I should go look at your Mistress Becca and see if there is anything we can do." Severus jumped in. Obviously worried about their Hostess and wanting to see if they could find out what was happening around there. But Kreacher declined and said.

"Mistress Becca will be fine and is not to have visitors yet, will meet you in here when stomach settles." Kreacher then bowed his head and left to take the tea to his Mistress.

"Wow." Harry said with a bewildered look on his face. "That was different."

Harry had hated the little elf for deceiving him when he firecalled his godfather, but after speaking with Severus and thinking about it, he knew it was not really Kreacher's fault. The poor little elf only knew what others had taught him and that he had to obey the family he was bonded to serve. He wondered where 'Mistress Becca' fell into all of this. If the goblin at Gringotts Bank was correct and the elf came with the Black estate, then Kreacher should be following his orders not Becca's.

Kreacher popped back into the kitchen as Harry was thinking and next thing the younger man knew he smelled bacon, sausage, eggs and toast. The table was instantly set before him with everything needed to eat the full English breakfast as well as jam, biscuits, porridge, juice and coffee. Harry just sat there wondering who was going to eat all of that food when the healers from yesterday started to shuffle in. A few mumbled a good morning and Doc just said "Hi" but they all gathered around the table and started to fill their plates. Harry looked at Severus, shrugged his shoulders and they both filled their plates too. Obviously these were not morning people or they were still exhausted from yesterday's events.

The first one to talk to Harry was 'Doc' and at first he was just staring at him making Harry uncomfortable. He looked into the older healer's eyes and finally said "What? Did I do something wrong?"

The healer shook his head as if coming out of a trance and said to Harry. "I was looking to see how strong your aura was and to see if you were feeling better. How _are_ you feeling today? You must be doing better for you and your mate to make breakfast for all of us."

"We didn't make breakfast, the elf did." Harry replied, getting sidetracked from the other things the healer said.

"Harry, we don't have house elves here. This place is not occupied long enough to warrant house elves here all the time and they cannot apparate here. We usually fend for ourselves." The healers had been to the facility before when there were emergencies but only three other times when a time spirit called them. Since the facility was a secret, there were not a lot of people that knew about it.

"When we walked in, Kreacher was here and he was fixing tea for 'Mistress Becca' and then came back and made breakfast for the rest of us."

Then Harry remembered what the healer said about his aura, and clearly wanting information asked, "You can see my aura? How is that possible? "

"It is a gift Harry. Everyone has gifts and this one is mine, well that and healing magic."

"To answer your first question, yes I feel much better considering yesterday I was sure I would never see Severus again but would be with my Mum and Dad. I don't really know what happened after I was taken from the Dursley's. Everything is more or less a blur of fragmented images. Can you tell me what happened?" Severus, who was sitting next to him at the table, took his hand and held it for a few minutes. He was disturbed to hear Harry speak so nonchalantly about his almost dying, he had been so anguished when he found him yesterday lying on that floor after being beaten almost beyond recognition. Even today he was still sporting a few bruises, but they were fading.

Doc got a thoughtful look on his face and said carefully. "I can tell you some of what happened and some of it will have to come from Becca as I don't have all the facts. When you came to us yesterday, your magical core was nearly drained. It had been used mostly to sustain your life force but there was also a slow drain to an alternate location. Becca told us this was because you had a connection to an evil power that was somehow connected to you through your scar." Doc didn't want to give them too much information about already knowing them before Becca had a chance to explain.

"We attempted to boost your magical core with potions and spells but could not get it to regenerate faster than the other power was draining it. Normally you don't feel the drain, but after using so much of your magic to stay alive the drain was very noticeable. We needed to use something that was really strong and quick to keep you alive." Doc stopped there waiting for the information to process in the young man and his mate sitting at his side. The older of the two just inclined his head as he already knew this, but it was new information for Harry as, other than the beating, he couldn't remember much of yesterday. He finally nodded for the man to continue.

"Part of what we did was to outfit your bed to transmit sound waves, a rhythm and frequency that would compliment your magical core. You may have felt some thrumming coming from the bed; this would amplify your magical signal and help keep your magic from disappearing altogether. Severus may have felt it more than you, as you were in such bad shape." The healer looked at Severus for confirmation and the older mate spoke.

"I did feel what you are describing; I just though it was our magic coming together, I did not realize it was from an external source. I have never heard of what you are describing. Where did the technique come from and what culture? Why are not more healers using this type of method to restore magical cores? Why did we have to use Sex Magic instead of just using your treatment?"

The healer got a sly grin on his face and answered Severus' question. "It is a muggle technique studied in the late 1970's early 80's and is still used today. They use it for healing and to treat depression as of course they don't know anything about magical cores. It is not used by the magical community because most people in the wizarding world refuse to believe muggles have anything to contribute to our world. Actually I stumbled across it researching other medical treatments on the internet, which is something else most wizards ignore." He looked back at Severus and although the man with the obsidian eyes tried to keep the usual mask in place, he was slipping. Harry just snickered at him and said nothing. "We could have treated Harry's core with just the sound waves but his core was so weak it couldn't absorb any energy with the leak of his magic. The Sex Magic was not only to boost the healing in Harry's body, it was the only thing we could think of the get enough power to remove the connection to Voldemort."

"What made Harry's connection different than mine? Becca spoke to my mark and it released and disappeared. Why couldn't she do the same with Harry?"

Doc had to think about his answer on this one. He knew some of the information he was asking needed to come from Becca so he replied. "Harry's connection was a piece of Voldemort's soul. It was imbedded into Harry and had lived there contained by Harry's inherent good. It took more power to knock it loose."

"Wow, you mean I had a piece of Voldemort inside my head? Harry asked shockingly.

Doc nodded in the affirmative. "I don't believe anyone knew though, although Dumbledore had suspicions."

"So the thrumming and waves we felt were not our magic?" Harry asked, wanting to understand more of what the healer was saying.

"Not exactly; the thrumming and sound waves actually merged with your magical signature and created a bigger boost than was possible with just potions and spells. The combined power was able to remove the blocks on your magic, and boost your core so that your body's energy would boost to get your healing magic to work. We did everything we could but you needed your magical core to work. I imagine the room is probably destroyed by now since you are sitting here with us and not still in bed." Harry had the grace to look down and his face got very red as he remembered the destruction they found this morning and what had caused it.

"Don't worry about it, Harry." The healer said as his gentle eyes full of mirth tried to catch the younger man's. "It is no more than we expected. We are just glad it worked."

Doc continued his explanation of Harry's obscure healing treatments. "The Sex Magic was another thing to boost your power. When we tried to remove the blocks on your core we couldn't get them to release. They were very old and very powerful. I would be surprised if you never had any accidental magic as a child with so many blockages there." Harry looked at him with puzzlement on his face but decided to let him continue without interruptions. "Again, Muggle Sex Therapy is used between couples for some illnesses and can be anywhere from just being intimate by casual touching, spending time together, just talking to one another or in your case having sex. It has been used ages ago to increase the bond between two people but the Ministry decided it was dark magic and it is used very seldom. The art of this form of magic is almost lost to the magical world. It releases adrenalin and endorphins to boost your energy level. Much like you may hear about a muggle that can lift a car from an adrenalin rush when someone is trapped under it but would never be able to do that normally. When you come to completion, the energy is released at one time on a very powerful level and can blast through most magic blocks that we could not do otherwise."

"You have said something about blocks a couple of times. I don't know anything about blocks." Harry turned his head to his partner at his side. "Sev?"

"We presume Dumbledore had put several blocks on your magic to keep you from coming into your full potential." Severus paused a moment and quietly informed him "He also had branded you as a sex slave, Harry. We don't know for what purpose, but Becca told me you had that brand from the time you were fifteen months old."

Harry was shaking. Severus could only hold his lover and try to comfort him and let him come to terms with what he had been told before trying to further explain.

"What blocks? I never saw a brand of any kind, ever!"

"The brand was concealed under a charm that was only released when Becca spoke to it with parsletongue. She said she couldn't remove it but she could uncover it. I don't know how many blocks there were, but I did see them as transparent walls around your core, and Harry, your core was so dim I don't know how…" Severus trailed off and swallowed hard as he thought about how he almost lost his soulmate. He rested his head in Harry's hair for a few minutes before he could compose himself again.

"Where are we now and how did we get here?" Harry asked next.

"That is better left for Becca to answer; I only know that we are called when we are needed. I would think that our young hostess will be up soon. There are many things to accomplish today. I do want to give you a physical before you start your day. We need to see how much your core has been boosted and we should probably check Severus too, since Becca removed the mark from his arm."

"So how did you get here? You said this place is not used often and I think we were portkeyed but to be honest I was pretty out of it."

"We are a team of healers that Becca calls when she is in great need. We do not normally see each other all at once. She was very worried about you and called all of us here to help you. To my left is Acubi, he is a half light elf and half wizard, his specialty is injuries such as broken bones, cutting curses and other trauma. He uses magic from both his magical sides in his practice. On my right is Kyia, she is from Italy and is a witch with a little veela, her healing power comes from her veela side and her specialty is more viral and blood disorders, potions and healing herbs are used in her practice. This little one to the far left is Hymnia and she is part dark elf and witch. Her healing power is also more for curses than disease using the powers from the dark elf side to counter evil curses and blocks. There was one other that has left already, his name was Acton and he is a wizard and muggle healer. He uses both muggle and wizard healing practices combined together to get the best results. I am Doc, and am the team leader. We were all called in to be on your healing team and were very worried about you."

As Doc introduced each healer, Harry and Severus nodded their heads in greeting. The first healer, Acubi had blonde hair and was a small build with ears that were a little pointy if you looked close. He was very nice looking, but Harry got the impression he was happy to be unnoticed in the room. The second healer Doc introduced was more of an olive complexion to her skin and she was very tall, almost as tall as Severus. She smiled politely but her blue eyes sparkled as she nodded back in greeting to Harry and Severus. The third healer was just as small built as the light elf, with hair black as midnight and eyes the same color; it made Harry wonder if Severus was part dark elf as their eyes were the same inky black color. All three of them looked happy to have Doc do the talking.

They all heard a noise at the door of the kitchen and looked to see Becca standing there in her pajamas and a robe tied tightly around her waist. She started to address everyone when she suddenly turned a slightly green pallor in her face and ran off. Doc and Harry started to get out of their chairs to see what was wrong, when Kreacher popped into the room and stopped them.

"Mistress Becca wants kitchen cleaned before coming back." Kreacher stated clearly as if waiting for someone to argue with him. The healers looked at the elf with shocked expressions on their faces as he snapped his fingers and the top of the table was cleared. Then he snapped his fingers again and you couldn't even smell that breakfast was ever on the table. Then he popped back out of the room.

Doc started to get out of his chair again, but Severus halted his progress by speculating out loud. "She probably has morning sickness and the smells in the room bothered her stomach. Maybe I should make her some…"

"What do you mean morning sickness?" Doc shouted at Severus interrupting him. He didn't know anything about Becca being pregnant and knew she had no husband nor was she involved with anyone. "As far as I know, she was not pregnant yesterday so what changed?"

Severus looked at the older man, trying to measure what his reaction would be when he told him. "We caused the chang; Harry was pregnant when his Uncle took a caning stick to him yesterday for being sick and evidently not telling them his Godfather had died. Becca transferred the fetus to keep it and Harry alive." The healer looked at Severus, opened mouthed, as if he had two heads. He sat down again closing his mouth, started to get up again opening his mouth, then settled back into his seat a second time closing his mouth and rubbing his hand over his face. He really seemed to be at a complete loss for words. Severus knew how he felt.

"You mean to tell me that Harry was pregnant? But how?" Doc said as he finally got his voice back. That had not been part of the plan that he knew of, at least he hadn't been told about it and yesterday when Harry was brought in, no one thought to run those kinds of tests as there was too many other things to do to keep him alive.

"We don't know how the baby survived the beating Harry took. All I can say is he must have curled up protecting his stomach early on when his Uncle was hitting him. Becca said that Harry's body was feeding off of the baby's magic to sustain itself and we were going to lose both of them if we didn't act fast, then just after she transferred the fetus, she portkeyed us out of there to this place. We both knew Harry was dying so we didn't have a reason to distrust her especially after she took an oath to keep us safe."

Doc nodded his head in understanding. He had heard of fetus transfer before but he didn't know why Harry was pregnant in the first place. It was not supposed to happen for another two years. He also didn't know where Becca got the power from. Just as he was about to say something else, Becca entered the room again.

"Good Morning everyone," she said cheerfully, "is everyone feeling alright? Harry, you look much better than yesterday, how are you doing today?"

"Since you are the one that ran out of here I should be asking you that question." Harry countered to her question. His smile was hesitant as he was the reason she was in this condition, but he felt light hearted and there was a twinkle of humor in his eyes.

"I am feeling much better, thank you, however; my stomach does not like the smell of bacon it seems. I am sure there will be more things it doesn't like as well." She answered him with a little wince thinking about her stomach revolting to the smell of bacon just a few moments ago.

"Now ladies and gentlemen, we need to plan a strategy for getting the rest of our tasks completed and getting Harry and Severus brought up to date." With every breath she took, Rebecca Prince was more and more apprehensive about the upcoming revelations she had to make.

A/N Sound therapy or sound waves and bio waves are a real technique to treating depression and minor illnesses that go along with it. It uses the same principles as we do when we use music for exercise, relaxing or other related activities. If you suffer from these illnesses I suggest you speak with a health care professional before trying to use them. You can find more information using a search engine with the same topic. Similar searches on Sex Magic or healing through intimacy is very real also. There are several articles on this subject as well. Obviously we don't have a magical core to be boosted so we can call that part poetic license.


	16. Becca's Plans

Chapter 16: Becca's Plans

Doc looked at Becca as she started to sit down at the table with a cup of tea and a biscuit. She had just thrown up all of her breakfast and was hungry again. She told herself that if this is what being pregnant was, she definitely was not going to repeat the experience again. Even if this was not her child and Harry and Severus would be raising it.

"Rebecca Elizabeth Prince, I would say the fist thing I want to know is how this condition happened." Uh oh, she was in trouble now. She had been hoping to avoid this discussion with Doc, but it seemed that it was going to take place anyway. Doc was looking at her sternly and he almost never resorted to calling her by her full name and she had known him most of her life.

"Uh… well… you see… the bond activated and…uhm… surely I don't need to tell you what happens when it does that. I mean, really, you already know about the birdsandthebees." Becca was hesitant at first but then her words were so fast they almost weren't distinguishable as separate words but one long one. She was cautious about speaking with him but she knew that she owed the other two men, the soulmates, an explanation, and she was never one to back down from her responsibilities. She waited for the barrage of questions to come as she sat there and took a sip of tea for a little courage. Oh, Merlin, she thought, eight months of not being able to indulge in a little alcohol. Not that she drank much but every now and then a she would pamper herself to a little wine.

Severus spoke up for the young woman, first because he thought Harry should hear the problem from him and second he didn't want anyone thinking that Becca had kept information from him. "Becca and I had a discussion yesterday," he started "and she told me that the dreams probably activated the bond to be stronger and push for us to complete it as she was trying to project feelings of well being and love. She has already told me that Evan was not actually to have been conceived yet and now our son will be born almost three years earlier than he should have been. What I don't know is who she is and how would she know information about our future son?" Severus then quirked his eyebrow in that wonderful manner of his that demanded answers immediately.

Doc stood up and looked at the other three with a resigned sigh coming from the lips on his handsome features. "We will leave so you three can have some privacy. Becca, I hope you come up with some good contingencies to this plan of yours. Maybe you should let these two help. Tell them everything you can. I do know that the last thing they will tolerate is being kept in the dark and you're not being one hundred percent open and upfront with them." The healer then turned to the two men to address them. "Severus, Harry, I will hope to see you in say two hours. Hopefully that will be enough time to hash out some of the problems with this plan of Becca's." With that the Doc and the other healers nodded their heads in respect and left the kitchen area.

"Wait" Harry said looking up in confusion "does he know us? He sounded like he knew us personally."

Becca nodded her head and looked at Severus and Harry "From another timeline, yes he knows you. We all do." Becca sighed and squirmed a little in her seat getting more comfortable. "Would either of you want some tea or some refreshments before we get started? This will take awhile." Severus just motioned with his hand for the young woman to stay seated and got up to make some coffee. Then he thought better of it and made tea. He didn't want Becca to have to leave the room because the smell didn't agree with her stomach. He was still trying to wrap his brain around the idea that he was going to be a father. Oh, Merlin.

"What you first need to know is that I am a Time Spirit. Our family has been the keepers of time and able to move back and forth for over one hundred years. I have come back to help straighten out some things that went wrong with this time frame to help the war effort. It is not going well and this was the only thing to do." Becca paused and took a sip of tea, grimaced and then applied a heating charm. Then she continued, "Nothing that has happened after the death of Harry's parents has been right. I came back after Dumbledore left you with the Dursley's the first time and told him to find another way. What I didn't know was that he was as corrupt as Voldemort, just for a different cause."

"Are you saying we can go back in time and save my parents?" Harry looked at her incredulously and hopeful.

"No, but I am getting to that, please just hear me out then you can ask questions."

Harry's down crested face just nodded once as he slumped in his chair. He was hoping they could do something, but evidently there was more to this.

Becca continued. "After I came back the first time, it should have changed the time line to protect you Harry. But again, that old fool put you with those horrible people and wouldn't let anyone near you. Then I came back a second time. This time I not only went to Dumbledore, but also Professor McGonagall and then went to Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. They didn't listen to me or couldn't figure a way around the circumstances even though I told Dumbledore that Sirius was not the Secret Keeper for the Potters. Remus tried but Dumbledore threatened to alert the Ministry that he was a werewolf. He could have been locked up and certainly would never have seen you again. Sirius went after Pettigrew even after I told him not to, that it would turn out bad. He didn't believe that Dumbledore would let him go to Azkaban. "

"You mean Dumbledore knew my Godfather was innocent and still let him go to prison?" Harry was taking this really hard and Becca wondered just how much she could continue to tell him. He was getting more upset by the minute and she really could not blame him. She was just as upset as he was.

"Kreacher!" Becca called the little house elf. When he appeared she told him to get two calming potions from Doc and bring them back. Maybe that would keep Harry from making himself sick again. She really should have waited for them to be examined first but she knew they probably would not have waited to get the answers they were looking for. They wanted answers NOW and she could empathize with them.

When Kreacher reappeared he handed the vials to Becca, bowed and left to wait to be called again. She handed them to Severus, knowing he would want to inspect them before letting his mate ingest anything. The older man uncorked a vial and smelled it, then took a drop on his finger to taste it then nodded his head and handed it to his mate. "Harry, take just a little sip and try to calm down. I believe this young woman has a solution and we need to hear her out." Harry looked up with tears in his eyes, after having been reminded of all the things in his life that had gone wrong and took a sip of the potion. After a few minutes he was noticeably calmer. After he wiped the tears from his face he settled down and nodded for the young woman to continue. Becca started talking again.

"After the second time, when I was ignored and things continued I could not come back again without some help. Fate allows one brief visit to change a wrong action in time. Then Magic allows another if things still turn out wrong. The rules do not allow you to pop in and out of time at will and they do not allow you to keep changing things till they are right. It upsets the whole balance of time. Every new visit is another ripple that changes other things that were not meant to be changed. Every Time Spirit is only allowed three visits to a given point in history, to change an event, but only if the first two brief visits fail. Time itself allows for a third visit, but only if it is really needed and the circumstances are of a tremendous global disaster. The Third Time Charm has to be invoked to use Time to change history. After the third time, what happens will happen and that is the end of it. In this case, if I had not interceded, Harry would be dead and the war would continue till the world just died. Too many people get caught up in it and even the muggles get involved, the bombs start falling and the radiation poison kills most everyone but those that live underground and even then there is more war. It doesn't end well."

Becca paused for a few minutes, took another sip of her tea and nibbled on a shortbread biscuit. "I came back to save you, Harry. I didn't know that the bond would activate and cause you to complete it. Evan Prince was not born until a year after you graduate. Obviously I made a mistake and misjudged the feeling I was filtering though the dreams. I am deeply sorry to have made you a father so young." Becca's face looked distraught and worried but Harry was quick to put out his hand to cover hers and reassure her.

"We would have had kids eventually, and I have never been young. I have worked as a slave since I was three or four years old and have never been a child." Becca knew this but it didn't make it any easier. "Can you tell us who exactly you are and what time you come from?"

Becca nodded and sighed, this was not easy. "Yes, I am a seventh child of the seventh child born to Evan Prince, your first born son and I am also your great grand daughter, and I have come back about one hundred and seven years give or take a few months. Right now in my time, Severus is one hundred and forty two years old and you have been bonded for over one hundred and five years." She stayed silent and waited for a reaction. That kind of bombshell of news was much too much to assimilate in a mere breath. Severus dropped his tea cup and Harry just stared at her.

"You said Prince?"

"Yes, you and Severus change your name to his mother's original name Prince. Most of the wizarding world had forgotten about his mother descending from the Prince line. It was to hide your identities."

After about a minute of waiting for some reaction, Becca was beginning to think maybe she should go find Doc to see if they might need something for shock. Just as she was thinking this, Severus took the remaining vial of calming potion and upended it into his mouth. He swallowed hard and looked back at the young woman, no, his great granddaughter and said, "Could you repeat that, I don't think I heard you correctly."

Harry suddenly came out of his stupor and held a hand up just as Becca was opening her mouth. He turned to Severus "Love, she said she is our great granddaughter and has come back one hundred and seven years. Oh, and we have been bonded over one hundred and five years." Harry smirked at the gob smacked potions professor barely containing his laughter. He had a family and from what she was saying, it turns out to be a big one. His heart warmed with such hope he wasn't sure he could contain it all.

"Yes, Harry, I believe I already heard that." The older man said dryly. He sat there, his expressionless mask completely gone and didn't move.

"Well, you did ask. Just trying to help, love." Harry smiled and winked at Becca. She let out a sigh of relief; this may not be as bad as she thought it would be. At least Harry was taking it well.

"Right now", Becca went on with her story, "you are in a facility you built that stands between time lines. Time has no basis here. I was going to stay here a few days before going to the original time line interruption on October 31, 1981 and intervene with what Dumbledore has done and raise Harry myself. I was hoping you two would want to come with me. I have invoked the Third Time Charm to do that so I can return for a third time back to that pivotal point in history. Now I don't know if you would want the option to come with me, I didn't know you would already have a son on the way and you may want to settle someplace quiet and just be left alone. It is your decision and I will abide by it, but I can't transfer the fetus back to Harry's body. It is extremely stressful to the baby and not recommended except for the direst of circumstances. It could injure or kill the child. At the time you were so badly injured I didn't have another choice."

"If we decide to go our own way, what will you do?" Severus asked thinking about how Harry hated being famous and he just wanted to live peacefully. It didn't sound like that was what Becca was talking about.

"I will have the baby, but I suggest we go to the U.S. and have it there. Then when you take possession of the child, I will have to continue and come back to this place then go to the Dursley's and take care of the younger Harry."

"So there will be two of us?" Harry asked. The Emerald Green looking at her confused.

"Essentially yes, there will be you the Harry of your time line and the baby Harry from the new created one. In order to make the drastic changes that are needed to correct this error, I had to activate the Third Time Charm. It will essentially take the pivotal night of October 31st and create a whole new existence while this time line destroys itself as it already is. Of course it will happen faster without you two, but it is going to happen."

"So you can't go back to your time when this is over?" Severus queried.

"No, my time is gone to me and I can't go back. The only way to make sure the time line doesn't get destroyed again is to stay and intervene with the knowledge I have of the past and how to destroy both Evil Lords."

"What do you mean both Evil Lords?" Harry again.

"Albus Dumbledore has committed more crimes in the name of the greater good than you can imagine. You are not the only one that has had a hard time Harry. I have knowledge of other things as well."

"So you are calling him a second Evil Lord?" Severus thinking that he was serving two masters each with their own agenda and none of it good. No wonder the war was still going on.

"What would you call a megalomaniac with his own agenda that has tried to enslave Harry to steal his powers? Putting blocks on his gifts so he can't do his best and putting him in front of Voldemort repeatedly without proper training?"

Severus nodded but Harry looked incredulously between the two several times before asking. "Were the blocks and enslavement from Voldemort or from Dumbledore?"

"Both actually, Harry." Becca replied "You were given a gift, it was an ancient spell. Your parents knew they would not live and also knew you had a great destiny even before you were born. The problem is they also told Dumbledore about a dream they had from the four founders of Hogwarts. Your mother was actually a descendent of Ravenclaw and your father of Gryffindor. In the Ravenclaw vault there was a spell book of ancient and very ritualistic spells. One of them was a way for the parents to pass on their powers to their infant. This spell was originally used in pureblood families for the first born male. It had to be preformed before you were born and still in your mother's womb and had to be in a specifically made ritual room. It has been lost except among the oldest of families. Eventually it was left unused in time as the spell allows upon the death of the parents to have their powers transferred to the one blessed. It caused problems in some of the greedier families as the first born would kill the parents to get their powers. The spell was actually outlawed about two or three hundred years ago as more muggleborns were entering the picture and the ministry didn't want such a division of power levels between the purebloods and the muggleborns. Voldemort's curse hit you at the same time the power transfer happened, hence there was an interruption of the killing curse and it rebounded back to the sender."

"So my mother dying for me really did save me?"

"Yes, in a way. Her powers transferred to you as soon as Voldemort killed her and your father's were already transferring. It doesn't take long and when the power boosts of two very powerful magical people hit at once with your own powers… well, let's just say good ole Voldie didn't stand a chance." Becca chuckled at that and look at the men. This was perhaps the first time the two of them had heard of such a thing and she wanted to give them time before continuing. "The truth of the matter is that if he had sent the killing curse to you first, Harry, you would not have survived anymore than anyone else would have. His arrogance and failure to find out more about the prophecy in the first place is what saved you. If he had only gone after the child and left the parents the outcome would have been completely different."

"This is why I cannot change the events to save your parents. You should view their sacrifice for what it was; an event that set in motion to end the war. If the prophecy had been more specific, we would have known which Dark or Evil Lord you were suppose to have the power to vanquish and actually you did vanquish Voldemort as a fifteen month old baby he just didn't die. The wizarding world should never have looked at you to kill him. It is not in your nature to kill; your magical core is too pure for that to happen. In another time line, you did kill him then went into such a depression you eventually died. In another time line, you killed him but Severus died. This mission is not about just you Harry; it is about your children. They do great and wonderful things and help the wizarding world become stronger and yet go back to the true old ways. I have some books you will want to read and information on each timeline. I have pensieve memories and information on the way to defeat Voldemort early before the war starts up again."

"What happens if we go back with you?" Severus asked.

I suggest then that we go back far enough and have Evan born on the same day as Harry and raise them both as twin brothers. It would give Harry a real playmate that he can bond with and allow us the time to prepare for when Voldemort attacks Godric's Hollow. It would also give him a different identity, Harry Potter does not have a twin therefore little Harry cannot possibly be the child we would be raising. But I must stress, we cannot interfere with those events. If Harry's parents don't die, there is no power transfer and little Harry dies with his parents. Then Voldemort continues before we can do anything to stop him and more people die. I also don't want the Dursley's to lay one hand on that child. I don't care about Dumbledore and his blood wards. They were pathetic. Wards based on blood and family and love; there was no family there for Harry and certainly no love. They were a waste of time. I have something different in mind."

"Where would you hide him then? He always said the blood wards were the only thing keeping him safe." Severus argued. He really wanted to know what she was going to do.

"Where do you hide anything you don't want found? Out in the open where everyone can see it." At Severus' puzzled expression she continued. "I will have number five Privet Drive and an underground facility that runs for several houses. He will be raised in the same muggle neighborhood and with Dumbledore's blood wards in place, but that won't be the only blood wards. Baby Harry will actually get his Hogwarts letter at #4 Privet Drive the cupboard under the stairs, but it will be about fifteen meters under the stairs. He will have his own bedroom, his own house elves, his own tutors and his Uncle Sev, Uncle Harry and Aunt Becca to protect him along with his cousin Evan to play with. If you come it will be all three of us and younger Harry, if you don't want to come then I am sure that my blood will suffice for the wards. Gorbink, you met at Gringotts, is from my time and will come help and there is another you haven't met yet, a light elf named Shashi who also will be there help. The facility will be built by goblins before the neighborhood is built and Shashi will help train him. Both he and Gorbink have much they can teach Harry before he has to go to Hogwarts. He won't live with Petunia and Vernon and he will grow up to be a self confident and intelligent well educated wizard as he was intended to from the beginning. The goblin builders will have runes imbedded into the structure for extra protection. Not even Dumbledore will be able to get at him when he is there."

After another hour of explanations and what she had planned, Becca got up from her seat and faced the two men still sitting with an expression of complete amazement. "I will leave you gentlemen to go get your physicals and think on what I have presented to you. We can speak some more later."

Becca cleaned her tea cup refreshing it with more tea. She was tired and her mouth was dry from so much talking. She hoped the two men would forgive her for her blunder and come with her, but she couldn't blame them if they did not want to take their child into a war zone. Even with a secure facility no one would know about.


	17. We Are OK

Chapter 17: We are Okay

Harry and Severus walked out of the kitchen; Severus had his arm around the younger mans' shoulder and Harry with his arm around the older man's waist. It was a comfortable way to hold each other while going to see Doc. They were silent, each thinking quietly over what Becca said. When they entered the room they noticed everything had either been repaired or replaced and Doc was the only one in the room.

The healer was sitting at his desk as the two men strolled in with their arms around each other. He smiled when he saw them come in and wondered if Becca had been able to give them much information. He had given Kreacher the calming potions and figured they would still be in shock for awhile. He watched as Severus turned Harry to him just as they came through the doorway and kissed him with a chaste kiss that looked like it promised more later. Doc smiled in remembrance of his two good friends and he wondered how this new time line would be effected. He and the rest of the healers were like some of the others Becca had recruited, no family left and wanting to make a difference. The other half humans would go back to their magical communities in the new time line and help restore relations with the wizards as soon as the wizards came to their senses.

"So, how are my two patients doing? No thunderous rants I take it and no window shaking?" Doc knew well how Harry's power could get out of control if he let it. He had seen the destruction before, part of the reason the room had been decimated yesterday.

"You tell us Doc, you'd know better than we would." Harry said smiling as he hopped up on the desk. He was in a really good mood but didn't know why. Of course he didn't have Voldy in his head anymore and he was rid of the traitors and no more Dumbledore manipulations. That was enough to put him in a great mood. Things would be different now. Knowing about what really happened when he was only a year old helped too. He liked knowing what was going on and he liked getting answers. Becca had more answers that anyone had bothered to give him in five years at school. He hoped he could speak with her more and find out the rest.

Doc turned to Harry and looked first into his eyes and then at the scar on his head. He asked Harry "Does anything hurt or does the scar bother you?"

"Actually, I feel much clearer and lighter, as if a big weight was lifted and I no longer have headaches. I never noticed how much my head hurt all the time. It feels like freedom. I guess I didn't know how much pain was there until it was gone." Harry smiled back at the healer hoping he was expressing his feelings adequately. Severus was standing behind Doc and looked at Harry again as if for the first time. He really did look better, as if a black cloud had removed itself from his body. Essentially that is what happened, Voldemort was no longer in his head and it was the evil curse that was lifted, not to mention the blocks had their own cloud that had been removed. He even noticed how the bruising was rapidly disappearing, no doubt because his magical core was so much stronger. He, himself, had felt much lighter without the dark mark painting his skin and as he stood there he realized he also felt like a cloud had lifted. It was a very liberating feeling.

Harry was smiling as he spoke to the two men in front of him. "I have never realized how much I was being held back. It's a wonder I ever did well in school. I can't remember ever being this clear headed and pain free. I guess sometimes you live with something long enough you forget it's there and just work around it." His bright countenance looked at Severus straight in the eye. "I bet I could even do potions now without making a mistake."

Severus smiled back at his young lover and nodded. Harry looked like he could take on the world and win at this point.

"Well Harry, I can see your core is much stronger. I should tell you that your magical signature has also changed. When you and Severus used sex magic to boost your core, his core merged with yours and changed the signatures for both of you. If you had anything that was keyed into your magical signature you may have to make some adjustments. That's the reason the Ministry outlawed Sex Magic rituals in the first place. It changes your magical signature and they can't trace you until they get another fix on the new signature. In your case I would imagine you aren't really bothered about not being traceable."

"I guess that would be more of a problem for Severus than me, I don't have anything that requires my magical signature, in fact, I don't even have my wand." Harry turned to Severus and said with alarm. "Severus, I need to go back and get my things from Privet Drive. As much as I hate to think about going there, I need my wand and a few other personal things."

"Calm down Harry." Severus replied "Becca stayed behind when we were portkeyed out of there and collected your things. I suppose she forgot to give them to you, or hasn't had the time really, with everything else going on."

Harry looked visibly relieved and sighed. "Thanks, I don't want those people to get to my cloak and wand, nor my pictures and school books either. What about Hedwig?" He said getting worried again. Severus noticed his emotions were all over the place and wondered if that was normal for the amount of trauma he had gone through recently. He stepped forward to put his arms around his distressed lover.

"Don't worry love; we will go ask her when we are finished here."

"Okay, Doc, how am I doing?"

"I would say you are doing excellent all things considered. Your emotions should balance out in a few days. You seem to be going from happy to sad to worried back to happy all in the space of a few minutes. I would think this is from the cleansing of the evil that has been trying to take over since Voldemort's rise in your fourth year. Some meditation exercises should help. Perhaps Severus could show you a few. Are you sore anywhere or feeling any pain?"

"Doc, I don't feel pain anymore. I am a little stiff and sore but nothing unbearable. It has to be real pain for me to even acknowledge it."

"I don't think a mild pain potion would be out of order, so if you want one I'll get it for you."

"No thanks, I am doing just fine." He hated taking potions and only took them when forced. Harry then turned to his mate. "Come on Sev, let the Doc have a look at you too." The young man was back to cheerful.

"I feel fine Harry, I don't need a checkup."

"I had one so can you."

"You were in pieces yesterday and it took five healers, count them five healers, and over twelve hours and a magical ritual to put you back together. I don't need a check up."

"Yeah, but what can it hurt?"

"If I let him check, will it get you off my back?"

"Yep." The cheeky smile on the younger man's face made Severus huff exasperatedly with a quick wind of air and he took a seat in Harry's vacated spot. He didn't know what they were going to check but he would do this for Harry. The Doc looked into his eyes and started a scan on his arm.

"It looks like everything is alright. No ill effects from the removal of the mark? When you got that removed from you, you should have felt lighter, like Harry does."

"I do feel lighter and I also feel more connected to Harry although I don't know what one has to do with the other."

"That usually happens with the sex magic you used last night. It brings you closer so you feel more connected as you said." Doc explained. "You should start feeling more magical power from your core too. It seems you both received a boost in power last night. Also you have been compensating so much for the leeching of power that was going to Voldemort, you are producing the same amount of power but it's more focused within your core. Either way, you are definitely more powerful. You will want to watch the spell casting for awhile as you are getting used to it."

Severus nodded, he had felt it too. "Can Harry be released today?"

"Sure, he can be released and do anything he wants. He should take it a little easy for the next couple of days, but I think he knows that since he is still sore. His hormones may be a little off too given that, as you say, he was pregnant. His body may not have caught up to the fact that it is not hosting the fetus anymore and his hormones will need to settle down." Harry was relieved, this was not Poppy who would make him stay in bed even when he didn't want to and felt fine. He was sure if it had been her, he would have been tied to the bed for a week.

Doc gave Severus a pat on the shoulder and told him they were both free to go, but as they started to leave, he said, "You need to give Becca a chance to explain why we are here, ask her all the questions you might have and make a good decision based on all the answers. She truly wants to help." Severus looked the man in the eyes and found no deception in them. He nodded and left with Harry to find Becca.

They were still in those green pajama things Harry called scrubs and he wanted to see if they could get some proper clothes to wear. Actually though, Harry looked kind of cute in them, as he was walking behind the younger man on the way to the kitchen, he noticed how they clung to his Quidditch tight ass and he was sporting an erection before they reached the kitchen. Good thing, the shirt he wore was loose on him and hung down almost to his hips. As soon as they entered the kitchen, Severus sat down with a groan which made Harry jerk his head up and look at his lover.

"Is everything alright Severus?" Harry looked concerned and worried with those emerald orbs piercing through the older man's eyes. "You said that everything was fine when you spoke to Doc."

"Harry, love, there is nothing wrong with me that you and a private room would not cure." Severus smirked and held his hand out to Harry. When the younger soulmate took his lover's hand, he was hauled out of the seat where he was currently perched and unceremoniously dumped into the older man's lap with his legs to one side so that Severus' 'little problem' was poking into Harry's outer thigh.

"Oh" Harry exclaimed with a wicked grin. "That's why you moaned." He started to squirm to get a reaction from Severus who retaliated by grabbing his face and pulling it in for a kiss. At first it was chaste and tender but as Harry wiggled again Severus slid his hand to the back of Harry's neck and licked the seam of his lips demanding entrance into the dark cavern. Harry smirked a little and slowly opened his mouth as the older man savagely plunged his tongue into his lover's mouth, tasting the sweetness that was uniquely Harry. This is what he wanted, Harry moaning at his touch. The passion then thundered though them like a tornado. The younger man moved a little off the professor's lap without releasing his mouth from the older man, but Severus made a grab for him again.

Harry was only repositioning himself for more friction on his own aching erection and needed more of Severus; more touching, more rubbing, just more of the man himself. Severus helped his younger lover to sit back on his lap, but this time chest to chest and as Harry spread his legs and straddled Severus' lap to get closer, their hips started to grind together as if in some primal dance and Harry called out in those sultry tones he used. "Severus… more… please more…" Severus having moved his mouth to his lover's neck answered without speaking, actions being louder than the mere words could say. He sucked and licked Harry's neck and just below his ears, eliciting an incredible response that had Harry whimpering and already incoherent babble escaping from his released mouth. The potions master moved one of his hands into the waistband of Harry's pants, moving his hand lower down his back and to that arse that had him so intrigued in the hallway. He squeezed the round orb and hissed as Harry pressed even closer so their erections rubbed together. Then without a single word, the potions master magically lubed and gently grazed his fingers down the crack between those twin muscular globes that formed Harry's arse. Slowly reaching for that pinnacle spot he knew would drive his lover over the edge.

Right there, Severus finally reached the little rose bud opening to Harry and watched as he yelped and jumped and ground harder into the older man's lap. Severus grinned wickedly and started sucking on Harry's neck again. As Severus rubbed over his young lover's treasure spot his mouth found that special place that drove Harry wild, just under his ear and listened to all the little mewling sounds coming from his former student. Now he was a student of something else and this was much better than teaching potions. As he felt the tightening in his own groin, he let one finger slip in just a half inch into the younger man and pulled the hips closer.

Taking Harry's mouth again he slid his free hand to the front of Harry's pants and went for the hard slightly smaller piece of manhood and gave it a squeeze before pulling the younger man more firmly in his lap as he quickly inserted two fingers, thrusting them into the tight opening making sure to hit the prostate they were aiming for. Harry keened and shouted "Sev" arching his back, and clamping down on the fingers inside him, panting his way through a powerful orgasm just as Severus released his own at the same time with a shout of "Harry!" Both men sat there for a few minutes Severus still hadn't removed his hand from inside Harry and they slowly came down from their orgasmic bliss. Harry laid his head on Severus' shoulder as the older man slowly pulled his fingers out of his young lover.

Harry moaned and whimpered but otherwise didn't move as he was totally sated. Severus held Harry close to keep him on his lap as they tried to steady their breathing, when their hearts started to beat normally Severus slid his hand under Harry's chin and made him look up into his face. "You are amazing." Harry blushed, a deep stain of red on his cheeks and tried to duck his head into Severus' neck again but the older man kept a firm hold and asked, "Are you still shy with me, love?"

Harry looked at his lover and shook his head and answered in a voice just above a whisper, "I just can't believe we just did that in the kitchen when anyone could come in." Severus did have to agree, they were not very careful, but at least they were still clothed. They need to clean up and he didn't know where his wand was and he knew Harry didn't have his either. They were going to have to go find out where their things were.

When Harry started to move, he scrunched up his face and whispered, "… sticky… I need another shower." He thought about his missing wand and then thought about a cleaning charm and waved his hand. Immediately both of them were clean and there was no evidence in the room that they had done anything. Severus looked up surprised and noticed that Harry was just as surprised. "I didn't think that would work." Harry said, his voice full of wonder. "I remember Doc saying something about our powers, but I barely thought about the cleaning charm before it went into action." Harry grinned at his lover and added "This could really be great!" Severus just smiled indulgently and changed the subject, making a mental note to explore this new aspect of their powers more fully at a later time.

"We need to find out where Becca is and get our things. We also need to know what the next step is. You are not going back to the Dursley's and that means you will not be going back to Hogwarts. I can't believe what that old fool did to you and we need to make a decision on a plan of action."

With the reminder of how Dumbledore and his friends treated him and stole from him, Harry started to get very depressed and looked at Severus, tears welling up in his eyes. "I don't know what to do Sev. The man will not leave me alone and neither will Voldemort. Where can we go to get away from them both? How am I to fulfill the prophecy? Can't we just move to one of my other properties and stay away from everyone?"

"I don't think that will work, Harry." Severus responded with a sympathetic look, "No matter where you go the war will follow. Becca said the destruction is throughout the world and hits everywhere but we should just listen to her plan and although I do not want to take our son back in time to another war zone, I do not want to raise him in this war zone either. This one seems far worse and we may be able to help keep this war from becoming too destructive. As much as I have had enough, there are some things we can do if we go that far back. Maybe even save a few people. I know what Becca said about your parents, but what about Sirius? Maybe Longbottom's parents? There were others that have died that we can help too."

"Severus, I am so tired of the idiots that surround us. I, too, don't want to bring our baby into a war. In fact I really am not ready to take care of a baby, and I don't even know how to be a good parent. I've never had an example of a good parent to follow. At one time I would have said the Weasleys were the only successful parents I had ever met but that isn't true either. They stole from me so that isn't an example I want to follow. I don't know if I can do this. I'm too young to take on this responsibility too. What if I make a terrible father?"

"Harry, look at me." Severus raised his lover's chin so he could look him in the eye and see what he was thinking. He could almost feel waves of despair rolling off of the younger man. "We will be okay, Harry." When he tried to look away because he wasn't sure he could believe Severus, the older man pulled his face back and said again, "We _will_ be alright Harry, believe me. Everything will work out." Severus tried to instill a look of truth and calm into his expression and hope he succeeded. Now, if only he believed it himself.


	18. Decisions Made

Chapter 18: Decisions Made

Becca stood at the doorway, watching the two men sitting in the chair, the younger straddled over the lap of the older, both with their eyes closed and holding on to each other. It was so cute to see them like this, but she terribly missed her own version of the soulmated couple from her time period. She cleared her throat before entering the room and sat down at the table. Both men were startled and looked up at the same time. Harry's face turned scarlet red and there was actually a small tinge of pink in Severus' cheeks too. Becca just smirked at them both and said. "Hope you guys had fun. I came to show you to your quarters and talk to you about what I'm doing this afternoon."

At the mention of having fun, Harry slid off Severus' lap and sat down in the chair next to him. "Um… how long have you been standing there?" Harry asked hesitantly. He was hoping that they had not unknowingly given anyone a 'show' with their earlier behavior.

"Oh," Becca answered "we all know not to follow you into a room after you have been walking down the hallway." She looked at the men and could tell they were puzzled about why she would say something like that. She giggled and continued. "You always argue, or at least your counterparts do, about who will have to walk down the hallway first when going anywhere." Severus raised his eyebrow reluctantly encouraging her to continue. "I asked you, one time when I was about five or six, why you argued about that. You both said at the exact same time, with the exact same tone of voice and the same smirk on your face 'He has a cute behind, I like to watch him walk'." Becca smiled at the memory and started to laugh. "I didn't really understand at the time but when one of you would walk behind the other, I usually couldn't get into the room until about fifteen minutes later." Now she was laughing heartily at the horrified expressions on the men's faces and was holding her side from laughing so hard as she tried to calm down. They both looked as if they were conked on head with something very heavy.

Severus glared at the young woman with his best irritated teacher scowl but she just kept on laughing. His scowl_ never_ failed him before so he was wondering why it did now. Then he realized that she was likely used to it from his older self. This was not working the way he wanted it to. Poor Harry was so flushed he likely would never get over this. Although he had to admit, Harry really did have a cute arse and he would likely react to it the same way again and he looked especially sexy all flushed and red like that.

Becca calmed down and faced the two soulmates again. "I have made arrangements to go to Hogwarts and get what is left there that belongs to Harry and you Severus. I have also made arrangements with the elves to go into the Chamber of Secrets and dissect the basilisk and gather the books and research materials that were left there by Salazar Slytherin.

"Are you talking about that snake that Harry killed in his second year? That thing must be decomposed by now. Why would you need to go down there? I don't like this." Severus who was sitting up in his chair suddenly leaned back and made a motion with his hands as if to say that was the last word he wanted to hear on the subject. He was looking at the woman as if she had grown another head and didn't look happy about the news.

"Salazar put many spells on that room; he wanted his heirs to be able to continue his work. There are preservation charms on everything down there and on the whole chamber as well. The basilisk is still there and I don't need to tell you how valuable those parts are as potion ingredients. Also we need some of them to make the werewolf's cure."

"You mean the Wolfsbane, but it doesn't use anything from a basilisk. In fact I don't know of a potion that does since it's not really available." Severus corrected her.

"No, I mean werewolf's cure. The basilisk is in the Chamber and we are going to dissect it and have potion ingredients."

"You mean someone came up with a cure?" Severus was really paying attention now. "How did they do that? Who did it? Was it based on the Wolfsbane potion?" He was full of questions now.

"You could say that. Actually you are the one who comes up with the cure, but not for another almost 60 years. I have your notes that your counterpart gave me packed away. When we get settled, I will give them to you. For now we have many things to do before we can leave here. Not the least of which is for you to decide what you want to do, now that you can't go back to Hogwarts to teach and Harry can't go back to school there. The headmaster will definitely want to reacquire you, Harry, for his own purposes. We need to stay clear of him." Becca was still hoping they would want to come with her but knew it was their decision to make and she would not influence them one way or the other.

"What happens after we get the contents of the Chamber?" Harry asked. That was something Severus wanted to know also.

"I have to finish off destroying the horcruxes that Voldemort created. I know this time line destroys itself but I cannot, in good conscience, leave such evil lying around where it can be moved to another timeline if someone finds out how to do it. I won't leave something like that behind until it is destroyed.

Harry looked puzzled and turned to Severus who had turned to stone. He wasn't moving an inch and he had such a look of horror on his face, Harry was getting panicked and thinking they should call Doc in here. Harry didn't know what she was talking about but Severus knew and he was not happy to hear her speak so easily about such things in the plural.

"Did you say horcruxes as in more than one?" Severus was still trying to wrap his mind around the idea that anyone would do such a thing. It was considered the all encompassing evil of evils. No one would do that if they wanted to stay humane.

Becca nodded her head and continued to explain. "He actually made seven of them although one was by accident. Harry destroyed one in his second year. The diary was a horcrux; Harry destroyed it by stabbing it with the basilisk fang that he took out of his arm. The second one destroyed was a locket that Kreacher had. Regulus had given it to him to take care of, but he couldn't do it as he didn't know how to open it. I had to use parsletongue as it was Slytherin's locket. The next one was in Harry himself. One of the reasons for the visions was because of his connection, but he was actually walking around with a piece of Voldemort's soul in his head. Fortunately it could not grow and take over because of Harry's inherent loving nature. It could only watch and cause pain when Voldemort was around like when he was attached to Quirrell or recreated his body at the Triwizard Tournament. The fourth Gorbink took care of when he was at Gringotts. It was Hufflepuff's cup and it was in the LaStrange vaults. He didn't remove it but he used a basilisk fang to remove the piece of soul that was left in it. That leaves three left. A ring that is buried in the old Gaunt home, the Ravenclaw diadem that is hidden in the Room of Requirement and Nagini."

"How was Gorbink allowed to destroy a horcrux in someone else's vault? Goblins are not allowed free access to anyone's vault. Isn't that against their contracts with wizards?" Severus wanted to know.

"You've never read one of their contracts thoroughly, have you? You are not allowed to store ghosts, spirits or souls in Gringotts. You can only store nonliving items and nothing sentient. Ghosts can go through walls and see what other people have. Gorbink only had to say there was a spirit in the vault to be able to gain access to destroy it. The goblins never question each other; they don't lie to each other either. Once it was gone, he still had to leave the cup there but it no longer carried a part of a soul." Becca tried to explain to him the lengths they were willing to go to complete their self appointed tasks.

"Hey guys, what is a hor…." Harry tried to interrupt but they just kept on talking.

"Did you tell me you are going to kill Nagini?" Severus looked at her with more shock on his face. Every time he spoke with this woman, she had more surprises and problems to put him on edge.

"Hey guys, what is a hor…" Harry tried again but they wouldn't pay attention to him.

"Nagini is a horcrux, which is why Voldemort keeps her close. I don't intend to do it all by myself; I was hoping to get a volunteer to help. That is not to say I don't have a plan for ferreting her out of his sight for awhile. I believe she can be killed just by poison. She is a living horcrux and not impervious to death. All I need is a few young rats, her favorite, and let them carry the poison. Then when she ingests them the horcrux is gone along with the snake."

"Just how do you think you are going to feed her poisoned rats? Voldemort will detect any magic or potion used to get to his snake."

"Hey guys, what is a hor…" Harry tried again only now he was getting a little agitated.

"Not muggle poison. He doesn't believe muggles could possibly be a threat, so we use muggle ingenuity." Becca said very matter-of-fact and sending a smile to the older man, answering his questions as best she could. "Put time released capsules of cyanide poison into the rat and let it loose after hissing how good the new nest of rats tastes. Either Harry or I can be under the invisibility cloak and not be detected so we can get in and out."

"There is no way you or Harry can get through the wards. He has tied them to his blood and his mark. I am not letting you or Harry do any such thing. You must be mad!" Severus was bellowing at her.

"HEY GUYS, what is a horcrux?" Harry shouted this time, trying to interrupt, and the other two occupants of the room turned toward him with a shocked look on their faces. They either had not heard him before or couldn't believe he didn't know what it was.

Severus then explained "A horcrux is a vessel that carries a piece of your soul to keep the remaining part earthbound. The theory is if you are killed your soul won't die and move on you just find a new body or find a way to make a new body. But seven… no wonder the old man is so insane. He doesn't have a whole soul; it would be like the dementors sucking out half your soul and letting you live. It is considered very evil magic and I have never heard of anyone trying to do more than one and even then the wizard went insane."

"I am not mad Severus, just desperate. I need that snake dead and actually Harry and I both _**can**_ get into that manor without any problems. He took Harry's blood last year, making his body with Harry's blood. Those wards are made with Harry's blood. He can go in there anytime he wants and as Harry's blood also runs through my veins, I can enter into there also." Becca had done her research very thoroughly and knew that she and Harry could do this. She was certain that they would not let her go though, because of the baby.

"Then that means he could have entered the blood wards on the Dursley's house. The wards have meant nothing since he arose?" Severus speculated

"That would be correct but the wards still kept the Death Eaters out, just not Voldemort." Becca informed him.

"Be that as it may, you are carrying my child,"

And here it comes, thought Becca

"whether or not he was to be conceived now or later, the fact remains you carry our child. You are not going near Voldemort. Is that understood?" Severus really looked mad and Becca knew when to back down.

"Yes, and I don't blame you Severus, but someone needs to call to the snake."

"How about a recording device?" Harry asked the other two at the table. "If we use a few tape recorders and place them around the area then we would be sure to get Nagini's attention but would not have to stay in the building. Or maybe a few two way radios, that way we can speak and hear her so we would know when she found the rats."

"Harry, that won't work. Muggle devices don't work around magic areas and certainly not in Voldemort's headquarters." Severus said to Harry looking slightly downcast at this but then remembered.

"Riddle's manor is not in a magical neighborhood. Maybe they would work."

Severus shook his head. "The manor is surrounded by magic and we need something foolproof that we know would work."

Becca jumped into the conversation and asked. "What if we use EMI shielding? Then we could use the muggle devices. That would work."

Severus and Harry turned to Becca and shook their heads. "EMI shielding? What are you talking about?"

"When muggles started inventing electronic technology, they found in certain areas and at certain times that electro magnetic interference was causing things to malfunction, especially if the interference was in an electrically charged area such as electric power plants or live unshielded cables. They even figured out how to send electrical or energy signals into an area to interrupt radio signals and later on cell phones. So shielding was created to disrupt the flow of the extra energy or electricity that was making the electronic devices breakdown. Magic is a type of energy and can also be interrupted by muggle means in the same way. It's easy enough to do, all it really means is you use a cover made of a small amount of rubber or some other insulation that will not transmit energy pulses then put it over most of the radio or recording device. You would have to use a wire to get the signal to the radio device though."

"I think we should take care of the items at Hogwarts first and I need to go to my office and personal chambers to get the things out of there." Severus was saying. Obviously Becca knew a lot of things from the future that would help them. He could consent to her coming with them as long as she stayed well away from the manor itself and didn't get into any danger.

"Your things are already taken care of from your chambers. You have trunks in your sleeping quarters here that contain everything from your classroom, office and all of your personal things from your private rooms. Harry you have quite a few trunks as well. Your things from the Dursley's, everything from your vaults and all the things we could collect that Dumbledore stole. Severus, you also have all of your vaults from Gringotts including the Prince vaults. The only thing you need to decide is what you want from your properties and if you have any elves at those places, we should bring them too. We will be going into another time line where there are other people to inherit the vaults from that time so you need your own money. That is if you decide to come with me, but where ever you go you needed these things anyway. We can start our businesses once we get to the new time, if you come."

"Businesses?" Harry queried.

"Well, you have to do something and we need to pay tutors for the kids if you so choose to go with me. I can give you a few days to decide but plans will have to be made one way or the other. I do not suggest you and Severus stay in your time line. The whole point of my coming was to move you to a safer place. But I am getting off the subject. We need to invade Hogwarts. We are running out of time. Gorbink is at this moment asking Dumbledore to go to the bank this afternoon so we can get to the school unnoticed. The elves are waiting for us to come and get the rest of your stuff out of there." Becca paused then said. "Lunch should be served in about an hour. Come, let me show you your rooms and Kreacher can make lunch. You might have time to take a quick shower.

"Kreacher!" Becca called for the little elf and immediately he popped into the room waiting to do his Mistress Becca's bidding. "Can you make lunch for everyone? We will be ready to eat in about an hour."

"Yes Mistress Becca, I's can do that, anything for Mistress Becca."

"Thank you Kreacher."

The two men followed the young woman out of the room and down the hall as they made their way to their quarters. Harry suddenly turned a bright red as he walked down the hallway, being reminded of what Becca had said about him and Severus. Merlin, how was he ever going to be able to walk down a hallway without thinking about that? Severus seemed to know what he was going through his lover's head because he grabbed his arse from behind and was gripping it and kneading the flesh there. Harry didn't know if they would make it into the shower if he didn't stop. He turned around and glared his most capable glare and Severus just smirked and winked at him. The man didn't pay any attention to his mean face, just smirked at him! This would mean war later.

Severus thought Harry was so cute with that look on his face. He was trying to be mean but he just couldn't make it work. The older man wanted to do a repeat of what they did in the bathroom this morning, his groin already begging to be set free from its confines again. He wanted to sink into that adorable arse and take control, to make his lover scream and whimper in those cute noises of his and to finally release only for him. It was sort of refreshing to know that Severus was the first to make the boy scream with pleasure and passion, and he would be the last. He still could not believe his good fortune in having Harry as his soulmate. The Boy Who Lived could do a lot better than one old washed up death eater.

As they entered the room Becca indicated, Harry and Severus looked around. There on the desk were the trunks in miniature form ready to resize and use. There was also Harry's wand, his cloak, his map and his Photograph album all sitting neat in a row waiting for him to use them again. On the other side of the desk were the trunks for Severus and yes his wand was also sitting on the desk. The Professor sighed in relief, as he picked up his wand. He didn't usually go this long without it on his person.

"Wow, Severus, she got all my stuff from the Dursley's; even the stuff hidden under the loose floorboard. I was afraid I would never see it again. I thought the Dursleys would have burned everything. How do you think she knew?"

"Harry, I think she knows a lot of things about us. It is a little unnerving. But she is correct about one thing. We do need to make a decision about where we go from here."

"Yeah, I was thinking about that too and as much as I would rather leave those backstabbers to their fate, I would love to get some of my loved ones back and help. With the knowledge she has, we can defeat Voldemort once and for all early in the game and maybe he could stay dead instead of the way he keeps coming back."

"And the baby, Harry what do you want to do about our child?" Severus was a little worried Harry would want to put it up for adoption or have someone else take care of it till he was older. He was so young, too young actually to be a father.

"What do you mean? I want to keep him and I really liked the idea of raising the younger me and Evan as brothers. We could take care of the younger me and he would have a reliable friend from day one and no more cupboards under the stairs, I mean the real cupboard, and someone to grow up with. I would learn how to be a father and hopefully Becca would be there to help us. We do have other things to do, you know. I need to train and pass my newts without instruction in the classroom.

"Harry" Severus hesitantly got his attention. "You do realize this will be permanent? She won't be able to bring us back here. Won't you miss your friends and classmates? Some of your teachers? Remus and some of the others?" Severus wanted Harry to understand what he was giving up and to really think about what he was doing with out rushing headlong into a new battle like the Gryffindor he was.

"But that's just it Sev, Sirius is dead, Becca said Remus dies in battle and I don't really have any friends, they all betrayed me. I get to meet all the people I love again only they will be younger, and Sev this could mean no one would know who I am. I won't be the Boy-Who-Lived anymore. I could just be me and no one would know you either. No one would object to our union because they wouldn't be hounding me with newspaper articles that display my personal life and no one would care anyway." He paused, not wanting to influence Severus to give up something he didn't want to. "But what about you Sev, do you think we should go?" Severus held his head down for a moment and then looked up to Harry.

"Yes, I believe we should go and do what we can. I also think we need to come along on the trip to Hogwarts today and see what treasures Dumbledore has stolen from you and get them back."

Harry's face then split with a huge grin and put his hand over Severus' with a slap. "Then let Operation Third Time Charm commence." And with that he walked into the bathroom to take a shower while tugging Severus along behind him.


	19. A Visit to Hogwarts

Chapter 19: A Visit to Hogwarts

Harry and Severus met with Becca and the others about an hour and fifteen minutes later. They were both showered and dressed in muggle clothing that they could throw their wizarding robes over. Not knowing exactly what they would be doing, they wanted to be prepared for anything. As soon as they entered the kitchen, they knew they were late as everyone was already half finished eating the food on their plates. Two place settings remained untouched together at the end of the table and they quickly sat down to eat some of the delicious looking sandwiches. Severus poured himself some tea, but Harry opted for some of the fruit juice in the pitcher on the sideboard where there were also several different kinds of fruits to choose from. As they sat down to eat, they looked at Becca to see how she was feeling. Obviously everything on the table was wholesome but also they didn't have anything hot like stew or soups that would give off any kind of odor, that might upset her stomach as the bacon had that morning.

They all ate in a fare amount of silence until everyone was finishing, but when the healers had completed their meal they looked to Becca when Doc asked. "So what are the plans for today? I know you have much that you want to accomplish, is there something we can help with?" His smile to her was in the form of a challenge, he knew she was something of a control person and would not ask for help unless it was something she couldn't do for herself or was in real trouble.

Just as Becca was shaking her head no and about to answer Doc in the negative, Severus spoke up before she could get the words out. "We need to go to Hogwarts and dissect a basilisk for potions parts. How are your surgical skills?" Severus knew that working with the great snake could take hours and the many hands they had here could make the work much faster.

Doc looked at him and quirked an eyebrow, "You mean Becca is going to let us help?" He started to chuckle under his breath waiting for the explosion from his honorary granddaughter.

"Becca…" Severus raised an eyebrow at the woman in question, "doesn't have a say in the matter. She is carrying Harry's and mine child and will not be going near that snake. From what I hear the snake is very large but has been in a preserving chamber. If that is true, the more skilled hands the better and although we will have protective clothing, we need to be as fast and efficient as possible while increasing our safety by limiting our exposure."

That's when Doc showed a genuine smile. He knew Rebecca as a headstrong young woman, but she did not often argue with her great-grandfather and it looked as if she was going to give these men the same respect. Doc looked around the table with an inquiring look on his face and at the nods from the others turned back to Severus and said "Yes we will help. All of us had some type of surgery when in our healer training. We are not often offered the opportunity to do field work with Becca, I look forward to it."

Becca looked at her grand… no Severus, he wasn't really her grandfather, and started to say something of a retort, you could see it in her face. Then she thought about the baby and how this was complicating things more than she expected; the same baby that was created because of her mistake. She could do other things in the Chambers and as long as she was able to come, she would be satisfied. Doc caught Becca's eye and she shrugged and looked at Severus again.

"Becca has told us that some of the house elves of Hogwarts will be available to help. We know the headmaster cannot get into the chamber so we should not have a problem taking all the time we will need to_** safely**_ dissect the snake, pack up what we find in the chamber and then get out of there. Does anyone have any questions?" Severus was definitely in command of the situation and knew what he wanted to do but even with the extra help, it would be a long afternoon.

"I would suggest everyone pack a change of clothes, once we are there we are not leaving until we have completed our tasks. The headmaster will be gone when we arrive but I don't know for how long and we will have to find a way to keep track of him so we can leave without him knowing we were there." Becca looked at the Potions Professor and knew he was definitely in charge of her operation. She could not argue with the logic though, he was more familiar with the school and the headmaster.

It was Severus who started with the organization of the trip. He was giving instructions to everyone on the care of dissecting a venomous creature to make sure all the safety precautions were adhered to. He asked Becca for the safety equipment and made a careful show of how to inspect it and how to properly use it. As excited as he was to get his hands on the rare potions ingredients, it was clear he was a very methodical Slytherin and not a 'rush head first into the fray' Gryffindor. The healers seemed to be excited about going and helping, as they paid careful attention to everything the professor said. When Becca brought out the shielded clothing however, it was something Severus had never seen before but he could tell that it was extremely durable and should protect everyone well.

"What is this made of, Becca? I was expecting dragon hide gloves and aprons." Severus asked but Harry had been looking at it also and although it seemed familiar he couldn't place ever having seen clothing made of this substance before.

"This is acromantula shielding, made from the shells. Just as a normal tarantula sheds its shell about two or three times a year when growing and about every year in adulthood so does an acromantula. It provides a renewable resource and doesn't require the death of the spider as the dragonhide does require the death of the dragon before you can take their hide.." She replied. "It is just as strong as dragonhide and it was more available to me from my time. Prince Conglomerate made a pact with the acromantulas and came to an agreement that is quite equitable. I suggest we wear some of this under our clothes; it is also very spell resistant in case a hex is thrown at us. We don't know when the headmaster will come back. Gorbink will keep him as busy as possible but we don't want to be seen in the castle any more than we have to. There is an external exit to the chamber that opens into the Forbidden Forest and we can leave that way."

"Why don't we go in that way and bypass the rest of the castle altogether?" Severus wanted to know why Becca insisted on going into the castle.

"Because, the outer door to the chamber was not an entrance for anyone but Salazar; it is hidden under spells from the outside so you can't find it, but you can use it as an exit from the inside in case of emergencies. This way no one can happen upon it and get into the castle."

So they gathered their equipment, more storage trunks (there was quite a collection now) and as they were all gathered in one room Becca received a message that appeared in thin air in front of her. "That's Gorbink; the headmaster is at the bank with Professor McGonagall for an audit of the school's finances". All seven people and one elf took hold of the rope and were port-keyed into the Great Hall.

I was a good thing nobody else was in the castle except the elves. Harry tripped into Severus as soon as they landed and nearly knocked him over. The noise of the arrival of seven people was rather louder than the professor would have wanted. There were little whispers and quiet talking around the Great Hall. It was a little odd but Severus got the impression that some of these people had never seen Hogwarts before. If he had asked them, he would have found out he was correct.

A contingent of about twenty Hogwarts house elves popped in just at that time accompanied by the head elf. All the elves bowed in unison to Becca and Harry, Severus was wondering why they were bowing like that to just those two, but then dismissed the thought and kept his mind on the task at hand. They would not have an ample amount of time and needed to stay focused. Becca looked at the head elf and nodded asking, "Where are the elves that have volunteered to go down into the chamber with us?"

The head elf answered with an astonishing "All that are here and any more you may require are ready to follow you into the chamber." Becca nodded again but Severus interrupted, "You mean all the elves are willing to go down there and help?"

"Yes Master Professor Snape, any help you need we can give you for Master Harry and Mistress Becca. The chamber is large and the snake is huge, you will need much help." The elf interjected.

"Harry… how big is this snake of yours?" the professor asked cautiously.

Harry looked around the Great Hall with a frown on his face, thinking hard. "I guess it is probably the length of this room or better. I don't really remember it was a few years ago and I was more concerned in how to kill the thing before it swallowed me whole." He said this so matter of fact, as if it was of no big concern, that Severus felt a shiver run up his spine, surely his young mate was exaggerating about the size and had meant to say kill him not swallow him.

He smiled indulgently and motioned to Harry, "Come on then, you lead the way." They went into the hallway and moved through the castle to the girl's second floor bathroom. As Harry entered the bathroom, Moaning Myrtle came to greet them with a wail of a scream until she saw Harry standing there.

"Oh, hello Harry, did you come to visit me?" The ghostly presence asked as she watched with wide eyes as her bathroom fill up with the adults and elves.

"Hello, Myrtle. All these people need to see the Chamber of Secrets and get a few things from down there. This is a secret mission so we need you to not say anything. Okay?" As Myrtle agreed, Harry hissed "_open_" at the set of sinks to one side of the room and they all watched in fascination as the entrance was exposed.

"I am going down first to make sure nothing is down there and will let you know when the coast is clear. I will have to do a few cleaning charms or everyone is going to get filthy before we even get to work." Harry stated as he stepped toward the opening of the chamber.

"Oh, no you are not. You don't have to do this the Gryffindor way anymore. First we will send down a disk of light to see if we can see anything. Then we will do a revelation charm to see if anything living is down there and **_after_** we have taken as many precautions as possible, I will be the one going first." Severus had grabbed a hold of Harry's arm while he was explaining to his young mate. He then bent forward and spoke very quietly in the young man's ear, "I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you now. Please don't rush into this."

Harry was reminded that it was just yesterday than he had come closer to death than ever before. He conceded to Severus' wishes and let him take the precautions he wanted. He watched as the older man sent a revealing spell down the chamber to look for any life forms, then he sent a disk of light from his wand to light up the tunnel but as the piping bent and turned you could not see the bottom at all and eventually you could see no light from it either even though Severus had explained that it would stay lit for awhile.

"Severus?" Harry said to get the man's attention. "I think maybe I should go down first, but on my broom. I am the best flier here and will be very careful. I will talk to you as I go down so that you know I am safe. I can also use the cleaning charms so that no one else gets so dirty." As much as the professor hated to admit it, Harry did have a point. Nothing was revealed from the living entity spell and the light should still be shining at the bottom so he would not be going in blind. If he went down on his broom he could control the speed and head straight back up at any danger.

"Alright Potter" the professor said sternly "If you see anything and I mean _anything_ untoward I want your arse up here immediately. Do. You. Understand?" Severus actually was using one of those expressions that he was famous for that still gave Harry the chills. Then when the older man turned to the Doc and asked "Is there _**any**_ reason Harry should not be flying?" Harry knew he was really worried about him. It made him feel really special, no one had ever cared for him like that before.

Doc shook his head and answered. "No, he should be alright as long as he is careful." Severus turned back to Harry and watched as he mounted his broom. He really didn't like this and his stomach was in knots as he was so sick with worry, but he would not let it show in front of these people.

"Harry, I would feel better if one of the elves rode down with you. Do you think you could carry one of them on the broom and ride double? If the elf is in the front, it can concentrate on cleaning while you concentrate on flying and getting into the chamber. It can also help protect you."

Kreacher, believe it or not, stepped forward and said to the professor. "Master Severus, I am owned by Master Harry and have had the charge of protecting Lord Blacks for many generations as my father before me. I go with him. He is now Lord Black and it is my job to protect him." The little creature stepped forward with all the confidence in the world and waited for Harry to put him on the broom. Severus was the one who actually picked him up and put him straddling the broom in front of his mate. He didn't want anything to happen to the little elf, but he wanted even more for nothing to happen to his Harry.

"Harry, did you see how I made the light disk?" Severus asked and at Harry's nod he continued. "I want you to do that every six or seven meters and stick the disk to the wall of the tunnel. We don't want anyone getting lost if the tunnel splits and this will provide adequate illumination for the others to come down safely." Harry nodded again. He really just wanted to get this over with. Actually he didn't want to go down there at all but Becca had said they could make a werewolf's cure and he really wanted to help Remus.

Harry made a disk of light and stuck it at the top of the entrance then slowly lowered himself into the chamber. Kreacher clicked his fingers and the tunnel was spotlessly clean for about eight meters. They continued this way until they got to the bottom. About every minute Harry would yell "Not there yet" or "Everything is alright". The others could hear the echo bouncing off the walls of the pipe in an eerie reverberation.

As this was going on, Severus went over to Becca and asked her. "So, tell me how you encouraged that little demon elf to act so nice and be so cooperative?" He smirked then persisted. "Did you put him under the imperious or something? I have never seen him so dedicated to his duties."

Becca gave a slight laugh and told him "No, I just reset the wards on Grimmauld Place and threw the Weasleys out while they were standing in the kitchen complaining about everything in the house being gone, including the books, food and beds. Kreacher had packed up everything with the promise I would let him go to Lady Malfoy. After I reset the wards and destroyed the locket he changed his mind and wanted to come along with me."

Severus whistled softly. "How did you reset the wards and who can get in now?"

"Blood wards, Severus. I am Harry's descendant. The only people who can get in are family including the Malfoys. Narcissa is after all a Black." Becca looked at Severus with a cheeky grin and a teasing twinkle in her eye. "You do know Harry owns the house don't you?"

Severus was thinking that revenge was sweet and he would love to see the headmaster's face when he couldn't get in. "Very Slytherin of you Miss Becca. Are there any other tricks up your sleeve before we leave?"

"Oh yeah, quite a few, we also have to go to,,," Just then they heard Harry shout about reaching the bottom of the tunnel and to start coming down and that all was clean and clear.

Severus was the first one down after Harry, he had to make sure his lover was really alright. He wasn't getting overprotective, he just wanted to make sure he didn't overexert himself after yesterday's healing. Yes that was his motive, he could never be overprotective. Not at all; over protection was for people like the Weasleys, but not him.

As everyone gathered at the bottom of the chamber, Harry and Severus walked over to where the tunnels had actually caved in when that crazy Professor Lockhart from second year tried to obliviate Harry and Ron. "How are we going to get this mess out of the way, Sev?" Harry asked as he looked on at the mess.

Severus surveyed the damage for a few minutes, walking around and looking at the ceiling as well as the pile of rocks on the floor. After he had thoroughly inspected the area from all angles he turned to face his younger mate.

"I have an idea. The Doc said our magic works together, right? Let's both take out our wands and see what a reparo will do." So Severus and Harry took out their wands and standing about 3 meters away from the mess. Severus was holding Harry to him with his left arm around the younger man's waist while Harry had his back to his soulmate's front; they both pointed with their wands which were in their right hands and shouted "Reparo" at the same time using the corresponding motion simultaneously.

The rocks started to shift and fly around the area, Harry and Severus pulled back keeping everyone else far away from what was happening. Suddenly the rocks flew into what was assumed to be their original positions and were absorbed into the broken ceiling and walls where they belonged and the cracks filled and slowly disappeared. Harry turned his head and looked at his older lover with a wide grin on his face. "Wow!" was the only way he could think to express himself.

"Remind me to never make these two mad at me." One of the healers said. "I have never seen anything like that, even in the Dark Elvin realm. Everyone else nodded in agreement with the sentiment and continued on their journey and cautiously watching the ceiling as they passed by in awe.

The group of adult humans and about twenty house elves arrived at the next chamber door. Harry hissed at it and the door opened its locks one by one until all seven snake locks clicked free. Everyone carefully walked forward with wands drawn a few with a lumos spell so they could see and entered the next part of the chamber. There lay the great snake, just where Harry had left it and suddenly the memories flashed through his mind and he stood rock still. The others started moving toward the snake as if they thought it were still alive and ready for anything.

"Oh, Merlin." Severus exclaimed under his breath. "Harry, did this thing grow after you killed it or something?" Severus turned around to find his lover. "Harry?" But Harry was frozen to his spot, flashbacks of memories about being in the chamber coursing through his head with this thing trying to kill him and the younger Voldemort coming to life as Ginny died. Severus quickly strode the few steps to reach his mate and put his arm around him to hold him to his chest. He rubbed soothing circles on the young man's back and waited for him to settle down. Once Harry was breathing normally he took a calming draft out of his pocket and tried again to get Harry's attention.

"Come on love, this will help." He said as he put the vial into Harry's hand. Harry tossed it into his mouth like it was nothing and told Severus "I'm fine. Just memories coming to the surface, I'm alright now."

They both turned back to the great snake in the middle of the room. "Harry, was this thing that big when you faced it in second year?"

"Yep, pretty much. It may have shrunk a little from lying here so long."

Everyone had turned their attention to the soulmated couple to hear the conversation. After Harry made his statement, on of the healers turned back to the snake and muttered to the others.

"Uh, yes, let's not make him mad at us."


	20. Treasures from the Chamber

Chapter 20: Treasures from the Chamber

Severus looked at the snake and thought to himself, 'this is not going to take hours; this will take weeks maybe even months.' He had never seen a snake so big before. The potions ingredients would last five lifetimes, he knew they could sell three quarters of them and still have enough for a lifetime and sell the rest for several fortunes. Severus tried not to think that it was Harry at the age of twelve that had slain the thing. If he ever saw Dumbledore again, he would hex him for this among other things. How many of these situations did Harry get into with the old coot's encouragement? Once was more than enough. It was no wonder he behaved the way he did at school and the way he considered himself expendable.

Severus had all four healers on a different section of the snake each with three elves assisting them. Becca came over to him after he finished getting the crews started so she could speak with him about what she wanted to do.

"Severus," Becca started to say when the stern potions professor turned around to her with a harsh expression.

"You are not going near that snake, you also are not to lift anything or go into dangerous areas of the chamber. I don't want anything happening to you."

"I was thinking that I could take three or four elves with me and go around and see what else is here. There are other rooms that could be opened and if Harry and I have the elves pack everything, then as soon as everyone is finished here we could leave. It could save an enormous amount of time." Becca pleaded with him as she just wanted to do something other than stand around. "Severus we can at least look around and pack up the skin that was shed from the basilisk. There must be an awful lot of it here with a snake that size. It should be good too, because of the preserving charms."

"Becca, I know you are bored standing around doing nothing, Harry, too, is not happy with me at the moment. I just don't want anyone to run into another one of these things and Harry is the quintessential Gryffindor and will run head first into trouble." Severus pondered for a moment on what he should do. He couldn't keep these two from doing something, they would rebel soon. If he gave them a safe task to do, it may give him some time to finish dissecting the head he was working on and then he could join them to keep them out of trouble.

"Actually, Severus," Becca interjected with a smirk, "the hat wanted to put Harry in Slytherin and the only reason he is so Gryffindor-ish is because it has been bred into him. It's not his first instinct." Severus raised his brow and the gob smacked look on his face told her he didn't know that.

"Harry!" Severus shouted to get his attention. Harry came over from the other side of the snake; he had been watching Doc carve out some organs and was impressed with his surgical skill.

"Yeah, Sev, what did I do?" Harry asked with his usual greeting as he walked toward his mate.

"Did the hat want to put you in Slytherin when you were sorted?"

"Yeah, but I had already heard about Voldemort being in that house and how all dark wizards came from that same house and told the hat to put me anywhere but Slytherin, so it chose Gryffindor."

"You _**told**_ the hat what to do? Why am I only just now hearing about this?"

"Sev, I would have told you before, but there were just so many other things that were more important. There are many things about me you don't know. Like how big this bloody snake was or how Lockhart would not leave me alone and kept trying to take pictures with me or…"

"That's enough Harry, I understand." Severus said gently. He got the point. It was just such a surprise to know that his mate refused to be sorted into his house, but he could understand the reasoning, this had Dumbledore's manipulations all over it.

"Becca has made a request that you two be allowed to wander around the chamber tunnels and look for anything else we may want to take. The shed skins of the basilisk can be almost as unique as the hide from the dead one. We will continue to dissect this thing and you and Becca see what else you can find that you think we should take with us. Please be careful and use caution when entering any other rooms. By the way Harry, did you or Becca close the entrance to the chamber when we came down?" Severus asked his mate as he put his arms around him. The thought had crossed his mind earlier but slipped away before he had asked Harry about it.

"Becca and I will go check and then we will explore the more open areas of the chamber. Maybe by then you will be able to come with us for some of the other closed rooms. I feel sure Salazar had a library here somewhere and would like to look for it, maybe even a potions lab." As Harry and Becca went off into the tunnel they had come from, Severus turned back to the task at hand. The great snake his mate killed could easily have swallowed him whole. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and concentrated on removing the poison sacks out of the snake's jaw.

Becca and Harry called for several elves to accompany them through the tunnels. Harry went to the entrance sight and shouted up the pipe "_close_" in that sibilant language that was so much a part of Slytherin's magic. He and Becca made a few more light disks and looked around the chamber.

"Look Harry!" Becca called out from a few meters away. "There are more skins over here and I feel sure we could find at least two or three skins in each of the other tunnels too." She was excited to be doing something that would not hurt the baby and that Severus wouldn't get upset about. Of course she had no objection to exploring around the tunnels either. They continued to look through the other tunnels using the light disks as guides back to the main chamber.

"These skins are really good, Harry." Becca informed him. "They are good for footwear and cloaks and protective gear. The nice thing is that all these skins were preserved over the last thousand years. We should be able to find at least a few hundred skins. Prince Conglomerate can start a fashion house when we relocate. It was done in my time. Just wait till you put on a pair of basilisk skin boots. They are soft and oh, so comfortable."

"You better not tell Severus that, I think he only wants to use things like this in potions. That man has a one track mind."

"The scales are good for potions. The skin is too, but there is so much of it that we can make boots and other things with it and he will never know the difference. We just need to find the other skins, because there has to be more somewhere. We haven't found the nest area yet where most of the shedding would have occurred."

"Will anyone buy a pair of basilisk skin boots? I have never heard of them, but it sounds like something Malfoy would wear."

Becca laughed at this comment. "I suppose he would. They are extremely expensive because you can't find the materials. When Prince Conglomerate started making them they were the only company to ever try it but they were the only company that had the materials and a parsletongue member to talk to the snakes. It seems that most people are of the same mind as Severus though. It's better as a potion ingredient and worth more too. But just like the acromantula shells, it is a renewable resource that can be replenished without the animal dying as long as you know how to find it."

"Is it also spell resistant? I would think it was considering my experience with the animal. It took the sword of Gryffindor to kill the thing."

"Yes, very spell resistant. I have a cloak make out of it and if I am wearing it and someone tries to stun me, it just bounces off with just a tickle. Though I have never tried aiming a reducto at it, that might do some damage."

About an hour later and approximately a hundred skins collected, in the last tunnel they came upon a door that was no taller than Harry. He didn't even think about Severus being upset with him or of taking risks as he hissed "_open_" and watched, wand ready, as the entrance was revealed. To his surprise, seven young snakes, about a meter long, came slithering out of the small anteroom.

Harry and Becca stood there as the seven young snakes came through the door. They were talking amongst themselves not really paying attention to the two adults standing just to the side of the open door. _"…do you think we can find mother?" "No remember she is dead" "How do we look for food, I am hungry." "The castle will continue to feed us." "Where are we going to go, we don't know this place." _

"_Stop!" _Harry was hearing all these voices at one time and the snakes were talking one over the other. He wanted to know where they came from. "_Who are you and how did you come to be here."_ Harry asked in the familiar parsletongue.

"_A speaker, but what if he is like the one that controlled our mother so that she became bad and was killed by that good wizard." _One of the snakes seemed to be the leader of what Harry assumed were siblings so he directed his next question to it.

"_What do you mean the bad wizard controlled your mother, who is your mother?"_

"_Our mother was the basilisk of these chambers. Many years ago Salazar Slytherin created these tunnels and put our mother here to help protect the castle and the children within it. Then a student came and did some kind of bad magic and controlled our mother and forced her to hurt some students. When he came back years later there was a young wizard that was forced to kill her. She was a good mother and had magic of her own and upon her death this room was sealed so that we could not be found and controlled or hurt like she was. She did it to protect us." _

Harry suddenly felt very sad and guilty for killing the younglings' mother. She was as much of a victim of Voldemort as he and everyone else was. He crouched down to get a better look at the baby basilisks having no fear of them killing him. "_I am sorry that I killed your mother. At the time she was trying to kill me and her master was trying to kill a friend of mine. My name is Harry Potter. I hope you can forgive me and we can be friends."_

"_It is him, he is the one." _ The leader snake said. He didn't seem to want to hurt Harry at all, and appeared more willing to accept Harry as they all raised their heads and bowed to the young man. _"We have heard great things about you Harry Potter. Even our mother spoke of one that would come to rid the magical world of the evil that tries to overtake it. It would be our honor to serve you as our master, speaker."_

Harry was not sure what to make of this. He was not looking for another familiar but he was sure the snakes would protect him as much as they were able and that could not be a bad thing. Harry bowed to the leader snake and said "_I would be honored to have a friend such as you. I do not have a snake familiar as of now so I can keep you with me. You would have to promise not to hurt any other humans that are with me and promise not to hurt my mate that is in another part of the chamber at the moment. Do you have names? What should I call you?"_

The leader snake nodded his head and answered. "_We are The Seven. I am called First Born; my siblings are called by the order in which they were hatched. The one next to me is Second Born, over to the wall is Third Born, the one half out the door is Forth Born, the one farther to my right is Fifth Born and the others to my left are Sixth and Seventh Born. These are the only names we are known by." _

"_Are you willing to leave the chamber?" _Harry asked them, hoping Severus would not have a fit if he took them home. He looked at Becca who stayed silent through the entire exchange and spoke to the first born again. "_This is Becca; she is a time traveler and is here to help us regain the balance of good and evil. She has come a long way and many years to help our world and she is also a speaker. You should come with me to meet my mate". _

"_Then she is a true spirit. We were placed here to help protect our __magical world__. We will go with you. Your nest mate is also a seventh. She should bond with Seventh Born. It will be good." _The snake hissed in the air and flicked its tongue at Becca. She looked at the snake but didn't say anything as she let the snake 'smell' her.The snake then looked back at the young man before him and said, _"Third Born will be a good protector for the unborn child. It will be a good match."_

Harry was not sure how the snake knew that, but he did know that the few snakes he had come into contact with were very insightful. Maybe they could help them find the rest of the anterooms. They needed to finish up and get back to Severus; he would be worrying by now.

Becca then turned to the elves that had been standing against the far wall and looking at the snakes with some trepidation. "If you can, I would like you to see if you can find any more skins. They will keep the elves in the fashion house very busy and help with the building of our businesses in the new time line."

The elves bowed and started walking off to see if they could find more skins in some of the remaining tunnels.

So the two adults and seven snakes made their way back to the main chamber where Severus and the healers were busily working away at the giant snake in the middle of the floor. Harry and Becca had already found almost a hundred skins, which the elves had stored in another trunk, and the seven born snakes. Now all they had to do was find the library and other quarters to see what else was left by Slytherin.

As Severus heard the entourage come into the chamber, he started toward Harry and Becca with a smile on his face and then stopped. The two of them were talking and laughing but both of them had a snake around their neck and there were several more slithering around them on the floor. How did they get into trouble already? Where did those snakes come from?

"Harry… love… do you realize you are surrounded by snakes? Where did they come from?" Severus was still frozen to his spot and was watching every tiny movement inching his way toward his wand so he could be ready if they decided to strike.

"Severus, it's alright." Harry told his bond mate. "They were here in a warded and closed room. The snake you are cutting up is their mother. They said that she was being control by an evil student and was forced to do things she didn't want to. I am assuming that somehow Voldemort did some kind of mind control on her and made her attack the students. These young ones are her children and she had them locked in a small room off one of the main tunnels so no one else could get to them. I opened the door with parsletongue and found them."

First Born then started hissing at Harry. "_Your mate is not happy to see us. He is not a speaker but has the ability. He wants to protect you as we do. You may tell him he will be safe with us."_ The snake did not seem offended but genuinely understanding. Then First Born turned to look at the carcass on the floor. _"If it would be permissible, we need to eat. We have not been fed but a few mice for a few years now and have been in hibernation for a long time. If we eat some of the body of our mother, we can absorb her magic and better serve you. Normally she would have fed us herself and we would be given her magic, but this stage was interrupted with her untimely death."_

"Severus, they are starving and need to eat. Can we give them some of the flesh from their mother? First Born said that they could absorb some of her magic that will aid in the protection of us. She died before their magic could fully mature and they can use her flesh to complete the process.

"Harry these are _**basilisks**_ and can kill you with one look. Do you really want seven of them wondering around? What will happen if we feed them? Are they going to stay here?" Severus was full of questions and no answers. He was not happy about this development; Harry was too soft hearted and at this point seemed to be as bad as Hagrid in wanting to befriend impossible pets. Harry turned to First Born and translated his mate's questions to get the answers.

"_There is an eye shield that prevents us from using that gift all the time. It only activates when we or our master is in danger and being attacked and then we would petrify first. The evil one used a spell on our mother to make her use the gift all the time even when not in danger and to attack others without provocation. We don't know how he did it."_

"Severus, First Born said that his mother was spelled to use that gift and that it is not automatic. That he can be ordered to not use the killing feature and would petrify first, he said that the evil student forced his mother to do that. I believe him Severus; snakes are not known for lying. They believe there is no reason for it. They do not fear the truth.

Severus was pondering the new information as Harry was talking to the snake around his neck. He seemed to have bonded with it somehow and Severus didn't really want to take it away from him. There was no problem with feeding the… younglings, as Harry had called them. So he made a quick decision and turned back to the people still working on the giant snake and told them to cut some of the flesh in pieces so the snakes could feed. Then he asked that the remainder of the flesh be cut and preserved in a container for later feedings.

Harry let out a sigh of relief, hoping Severus would understand and help the nest. "Thank you Severus, it means so much to me that you trust me like this."

"Think nothing of it Harry, if they do not behave or they attack someone, I can still use them for potion ingredients." This, his young mate knew to be true, but he believed that the snakes would be around for a long time.

Harry took First Born off his shoulder and let him down on the floor, hissing at him. _"You and your nest mates go and eat. Do not eat too much as we will be traveling and I don't want you to be sick. We will bring more of the flesh with us for you to eat more later." _ At this the seven younglings slithered across the floor and positioned themselves where the basilisk's flesh was situated on the floor so they could eat.

Severus walked over to Harry and started to put his arm around him; he just could not get enough of his mate and wanted to hold him close but Harry pulled away. Severus gave him a strange look but thought perhaps Harry did not want a public display of affection in front of so many people. The snakes had put him in a panic when he first saw them slithering around his mate and he needed to know that his young lover was safe. "Harry, do you know how big these things are going to get?" Severus looked over at the snakes swallowing the flesh on the floor. They were already about a meter in length and they had been starved for the last couple of years so had not grown much.

"I had looked into the snakes before and they won't really get more than three or four meters for the first hundred years. They grow larger with a larger environment so if they stay with us we would temper their feedings to keep them small. The one that attacked me was most likely one thousand years old or maybe even older. These new ones will pledge to continue to protect our family even after we are gone. It is very unusual for a female to produce more than one or two in a lifetime so I guess this was something special. They say they were here for me and call themselves The Seven. Too bad I didn't find them in second year."

"Harry," Severus responded. "You and _**seven bloody snakes**_ walking around the castle would have caused more problems than it solved. Be glad you didn't find them then. I certainly would not have let them come to class with you." Severus looked at Harry like he was out of his mind. Find them in second year, indeed.

"At least then I would have had friends I could talk to and I probably would have found out about all my missing money sooner and about how people were stealing from me and plotting against me." Severus went to put his arm around Harry again and again he pulled back. Then Harry smirked at him and said, "Yuck, Sev, you smell like dead snake, let's wait till we get back and shower. Severus hadn't thought about that but as he looked at his mate he could see that Harry was just as filthy.

From across the room they heard running footsteps and shouting. As they looked around, they realized that Becca was not with them anymore. They had been so entrenched in their conversation that she had walked away without them noticing.

'HARRY, SEVERUS?" The shout came from the other side of the enormous chamber. "You have to see this! It's huge!"


	21. The Slytherin Chambers

Chapter 21: The Slytherin Chambers

Everyone ran to where Becca was shouting from. She sounded excited and awed at the same time. When they approached the doorway, they cautiously entered the double doors that were carved with all kinds of snakes slithering one on top of the over. The snakes that were carved into the wooden oak doors appeared to be moving slightly, but not enough to be sure that is what you were really seeing. The room was at least eight meters high and was floor to ceiling bookshelves on three sides of the room. There was a fireplace on the other wall, but larger than any fireplace they had ever seen. It was almost four meters long and two meters high. Severus looked at it and decided it must be designed to accommodate the large snake so that she could get her massive body warm in front of the fire when it was cold. The room itself was huge, not just the height but the floor space had to be ten or twelve meters square. All in all it looked like you could almost fit all of Gryffindor tower in the massive room.

The books were of every shape, size and language. Some of the languages long forgotten and their secrets probably would never be released again. When they went into the next room, there was a large bed and upon the bed was another snake. This one was about half the size of the mother they were dissecting in the other chamber and it was draped off the bed and part of it was lying on the floor. Severus quickly pulled Harry away from the room and told the others to stay away. They did not know if the snake was alive or dead given the preservation charms in this area but Severus was taking no chances with his mate. Even though he was alive and well, Harry had almost died and it would take Severus a little more time to fully adjust to the realization that the young man was going to be alright.

Harry then spoke to First Born to see if he knew who the other snake was. First Born replied. "_This must be our Father. He was about five hundred years younger than our mother. He was an egg that hatched after Slytherin had left for many years. The evil student killed him to gain control of mother the second time he was here. Together they could fight him using their combined magic, but after he died Mother couldn't continue and the bad student gained control. There have never been any other great snakes in these chambers. He would have been preserved with the rest of this area. If you can, you should cut his flesh into useful parts just as you did mother. They were both devoted to her original master that would have wanted some of his potion research to continue. It would have honored them to know they helped the magic world even in death."_

Harry explained to the others that didn't understand parsletongue what First Born had said. They were sorry that the younglings had suffered so much in what was essentially the same war that had taken the lives of many of their own families. They decided to leave the snake where it was for now and continue to look around the other rooms to see what else was there. Doc and one of the other healers walked into a room that had two leather couches and two matching chairs in front of two rows of six mirrors each. Doc shouted out to the others to come and see this as it seemed strange that the furniture would have been placed in front of a bunch of mirrors so you could look at yourself.

All of the other adults came into the room and were standing in front of the dozen mirrors wondering why they were there. Each mirror was three meters tall and a half meter wide and all were hung one right after the other coming into the corner so six were on one wall and six on the other making a corner of the room. The furniture was facing the corner and far enough back to give you a view of all the mirrors at one time. Harry was talking to Severus under his breath. "Wow, looks like your house founder was a little vain, huh Sev? How could anyone like looking at himself that much? I wonder what he thought the first mirror would show him that the second one wouldn't."

Severus who had been wondering the same thing suddenly looked like he had a revelation and turned back at Harry after contemplating the mirrors in front of him for a few minutes. "Harry, tell the mirrors to reveal, maybe they are charmed to see something but only with a password."

Harry looked at the mirrors and said in his sibilant language "_reveal"_ but when nothing happened he tried again, "_show me."_ That did it, suddenly as if someone hit a remote control to a muggle television they came to life and the occupants of the room were looking at different places in the castle. The Great Hall, each of the common rooms, the headmaster's office, the headmaster's living quarters and what everyone presumed to be the other founder's living quarters that were currently empty, there was also the room where the basilisk they had been dissecting lay and the astronomy tower. As they were watching the various different rooms of the castle, they saw the headmaster come into his office slamming doors and stomping around like he was in a towering rage. Harry wished he could hear what was going on then got another idea, "_sound." _He hissed to the mirror of the headmaster's office. Suddenly the sound in the room was clear and they could hear the old man mumbling to himself. He went over to Fawkes' cage and shouted at him.

"Well you are probably happy at least. I can't find Harry or Severus, we have been thrown out of Grimmauld place and everyone has gone to visit their families or have gone on vacation somewhere. All of my plans are now ruined and I don't know how to get them back. On top of that, the brat of a kid locked me out of his vaults. I can't even get to any money and I have to pay the Weasleys their last installment for Harry sitting this year and get their summer plans in order. They want to go to Egypt again this holiday and I told them Harry would pay for the trip again. Things could not be worse. If only I knew where Severus has gone, he doesn't usually take a vacation. Perhaps Voldemort called him; he sometimes did before the first time he attacked the brat and lost his body. When school would end he needed Severus to brew potions for the death eaters." The headmaster stomped around the room a few times before more of his vitriol came forth.

"I bet you are just loving this aren't you Fawkes? You feel that justice is served, that I should not have done that to Harry, to use his money to stop the war? You would like to be free wouldn't you Fawkes? I can't risk you finding a way to tell Harry or some of the other order members about what I do. The chains that keep you here will not release until I let them or I die. You have too much information to be let loose. Perhaps I should find a way to get rid of you altogether, and then I wouldn't have to worry about it." The trouble was that Fawkes was a phoenix and if they died they came back so the magnificent bird was trapped by chains. The man continued to rant in the same vein of context.

It was during this tirade that Harry suddenly understood why Becca had said something about two Dark Lords or Evil Lords. He also understood that there was a huge difference between dark, light and evil. The intent of the person was everything. A hate for what the old man had done to so many in this war came crashing down in his heart and he let out an anguished cry not even remembering there were other people in the room that had heard the headmaster say those things too.

Harry could not stop the tears from falling, his heart broken for all the people that Dumbledore had manipulated in his life. Poor Fawkes, he saved the young savior's life in second year and Harry had a special place in his heart for the phoenix, and being in the chamber had reminded him of what he owed the bird. Severus hearing the distressed young man crossed the three or four meters to reach his side and speak to his mate but when he arrived he saw the silent tears streaming down Harry's face. Ignoring the dirt and grime that covered them both, he pulled his lover into his arms and held him to help ease some of his pain.

Harry stayed there until his tears subsided and then turned to Severus stuttering badly, "Ss severus, we c ccan't leave Fawkes there. H he s ssaved my life in s second year. We h h have to s sa save him." Harry held onto the older man even tighter as he spoke. He was so torn up inside at the plight of the magnificent bird. He was shaking so much; Severus thought his lover was going into shock. Possibly this excursion to the chambers was much too soon given his condition yesterday. He knew they were under some time constraints. Even time travel had to have an open window and it didn't stay open very long. He hoped Harry was going to be alright. He would have to watch him closely and make sure his young lover didn't over exert himself.

"Harry, I don't know how we would do that. If there are magical chains on the bird, we would have to research how to remove them. It may take more time than we actually have. I don't understand all there is to know about time travel and I certainly have not come across some of the magics that Becca knows about. Let's get the rest of the things packed here and talk to her. We need to break soon for dinner and I know she probably has not eaten and she needs to take better care of herself.

"Don't worry about Becca, she was snacking on something as we were going around the tunnels to find the skins, and she was sure to have the elves pack the skins too, she didn't lift anything." Harry assured his mate. "What are we going to do with the other Basilisk carcass?"

"I don't know." Severus answered. "I think we need to see what else we **need** to accomplish and what we **want** to accomplish. We may not be able to do everything we want to do."

As Severus and Harry spoke softly together in a secluded corner the others were still listening to the soliloquy of the enraged Headmaster Dumbledore.

"All my plans ruined!" Dumbledore was shouting to no one in particular. "All the training in Voodoo rituals and body and mind transference. All the waiting, fifty years of it waiting for the right person. Waiting for the right student to come. All these years as headmaster **wasted **looking for the one student I could control and then keep a virgin until his seventeenth birthday; one that had money and prestige." Albus started muttering unintelligibly and then started shouting again.

"I even had those kids try to detain Harry so we could feed him the love potion to fall for Ginny. Even the potion would not have let him have sex; my spells should have prevented that. I don't understand why they didn't. When I figured out Harry was gay, I couldn't have that. When I would finally be able to take over his body, I was going to have the pleasure of teaching the little Weasley chit how to really please a master. Appearances must be kept and the public would expect Harry to marry and have children. I wanted to see her as she screamed in pain and I would have had a couple of male lovers to entertain me as well after she conceived. The family is known for having many children and I would have controlled one of the largest families in the wizarding world. I would have had control of the whole Weasley family as long as I just let her play Lady Potter in society. I could have done anything I wanted. The Potter brat has property, money and fame and I would have been a king in the wizarding world."

The others watched in fascinated horror as the old manipulative coot stomped in his office, continuing to rant. "I could have ruled the Ministry with the youth I wanted and still have found a way to quickly work my current titles into the mix. When my old body died with Harry's mind and soul in it I could have willed my power to the body of the Potter brat and been supreme. People would have worshiped me and made me Minister of Magic." His ranting started to slow down and he looked at Fawkes with an evil glint in his eye. "All may not be lost yet; all I need to do is find the brat and detain him in the dungeons. Severus wouldn't mind, he has hated the boy for years."

Upon hearing this Becca looked at her two favorite men quietly speaking in the corner, she was sure they had not heard the rest of the rant after Harry broke down about Fawkes. She motioned for the others to keep this scene to themselves and not say anything about it. Of course, she would have to tell them sooner or later, but Harry had been through enough without hearing about this and the information was not crucial to their mission.

It was decided that they could actually spend the night there in the chambers. Dumbledore had never had access to these chambers and after Harry and Becca went through the tunnels closing off access, so no one could leave or enter without parsletongue passwords. They found three other bedrooms not including the one the snake was in. There was another sitting room as well as the library they walked into first and the room of mirrors. The house elves brought food for dinner and anything else they needed. Originally the elves could not gain access to this section of the castle, but it seemed that once it was opened and there were other people that could call on them, they had no trouble popping in and out from the kitchens or anywhere else in the castle.

Each bedroom had a bathroom and there was a full bathroom off the library as well. This let them take showers and get clean so all they had to do was change into the clean clothes Severus had told them to pack. Their evening was spent in the library looking at the various tomes on the shelves and the vast amount of lost information sitting in there. It was like a treasure hunt that paid off. The other healers even found sections of tomes that were written in their other creature language and were able to understand some of the titles to the books there.

The house elves brought down enough extra beds and bedding so everyone would be comfortable. Some of the healers had to double up in the bedrooms but Severus and Harry had their own bedroom and were snuggled down falling asleep after their hot shower and supper; completely exhausted from the activities of the day.

It was very early in the morning and Harry was surrounded by heat. Wonderful and glorious heat, with comfort and love infused into that heat. It encircled his entire being and he snuggled into it until the heat under his cheek moved. The movement was alive and the beat was the beat of a heart calling to him to be strong, to live and survive, and to love it back. As he little by little came out of his slumber, he realized he was practically on top of Severus with both of the older man's arms around him, holding him close. It was a wonderful way to wake up and he hoped he could wake up like this for the remainder of his life. He settled down again and went back to sleep.

"Sleep for now, my Harry." Severus whispered to the young man. "Today will bring even more adventures." The older man promised as he watched First Born curl up on the headboard of the bed and hiss, then dropped his head as if in sleep also.

*A/N Today, most dictionaries define "moot" as either "debatable" or "irrelevant." In the United States, the predominant meaning is "irrelevant." In Britain , it's "debatable." Since I am from the United States I am using this word as irrelevant._.com/blog/2006/10/_**moot**__

One meter = 3.2808399 feet


	22. Packing the Chamber

Chapter 22: Packing the Chamber

It was eight in the morning and everyone was sitting around the breakfast table, everyone that is except the two soul bonded mates that were still in bed after a very exhausting early morning of sexual calisthenics. Becca sent one of the elves to bring them a tray of breakfast to their bedroom. They needed to get up soon, they had another busy day ahead and she was hoping for their help.

Kreacher popped in to the temporary bedchambers of his Master and saw him and his mate sleeping soundly. He laid the tray of food down on a conjured table and then went to the bedside to wake his masters.

"Master Severus and Master Potter, sirs" Kreacher said in a hushed voice, but received no answer. "Master Severus and Master Potter, sirs" Kreacher said in a louder voice. He saw his master's mate stir and start to wake up. "Breakfast is ready sirs." Kreacher said in a not loud voice but just above a normal tone. He didn't want to be hexed for startling his masters awake but he wanted to make sure he was heard. Severus woke up fully and looked down at his still sleeping mate. He then turned to Kreacher and dismissed him with a thank you. Kreacher's eyes grew wide just as he popped out of the room. None of his previous masters thanked him for breakfast before except Master Regulus. Severus proceeded to wake up his lover and get ready for the day.

An hour later the seven adults, seventeen house elves (there were many more on duty about the castle) including Kreacher and seven snakes were huddled around the table going over the days plans. Harry wanted to find a way to save Fawkes, Becca wanted to get the remaining horcruxes, Severus wanted to see about packing up the other basilisk and Doc thought they should brew some Werewolf's cure. Harry was in favor of that so he could send it to Remus in this time even if he was going to die in the war or disappear, however this really worked he didn't know but, he wanted to give him a fighting chance. Becca had already said that her arrival had changed some things, what was one more?

It was finally decided, The Seven were going to help get Nagini with Becca and Harry. This would be the fastest as the snakes could get through the wards with no trouble. Voldemort didn't ward against snakes, and this would keep Becca and Harry from having to get anywhere near the manor, which pleased Severus greatly. Each snake would bring in its mouth a poisoned rat for the familiar Nagini, ensuring that the rat was eaten and the snake would die. While they were doing that Becca and Harry would go over to Gaunt's shack and find the ring.

Meanwhile:

The elves would put a special small acromantula shell box under Fawkes perch so that when the phoenix died and turned to ashes, it would not touch the pan underneath but go into the box. They were hoping this would be enough of a disruption of the energy in Dumbledore's magic to get the bird out of his clutches. The old coot received another fire call from Gorbink to come and see to the audit they were still conducting. Actually it did not take that long to do an audit but it was an excuse for Dumbledore to complain about the inefficiencies of the goblins and for the goblin to get him out of the school. The elves spoke to Fawkes when Dumbledore was out of the office, asking him if he could burn early. The magnificent bird understood what they were trying to do for him, so he forced himself to burn, his ashes falling into the box.

Another group of five elves was looking for Ravenclaw's diadem in the Room of Requirement. Becca was as specific as she could be about the location since she had never really seen the thing, just the memories of it from another time line. They just hoped the elves would be able to find it before they had to leave.

Severus was brewing the werewolf's cure with one of the other healers and two elves. They used ingredients from Salazar's stores and the basilisk parts gathered the day before. In Salazar's lab six cauldrons were set up and they would be able to make twenty doses per cauldron. That would give them one hundred twenty doses to deliver to Remus.

Severus was not happy about being separated from Harry but he did realize his young lover would be protected by seven baby basilisks and also had Becca with him and Kreacher went with them as well saying "He was to protect the Lord Black and future Lord Black." This announcement amused several of the adults, but the house elves all bowed their heads in honor of this most important and trustworthy responsibility. The other healers and elves were dissecting the new basilisk called Father, finishing the old one called Mother and other elves were packing the entire contents of the chamber including the entire library.

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Six of the seven snakes were released each with a fat young rat in their mouth, holding the rat by the scruff of its neck, and each rat was loaded with muggle rat poison. It was decided that second born would stay to help protect Becca and Harry. The other snakes were warned, very strongly, not to accidentally eat said rats as they would die with Nagini. So they set out for Riddle Manor. When the younglings started hissing for Nagini to come out,

Voldemort didn't hear their hissing as he was ailing and in bed. Something was keeping him from draining the power he needed from Harry and at least one of his followers. A very powerful follower, this inability to drain power from his main sources caused a weakness after last night's 'discipline session' when he could not replenish the power he used for the curses he threw at his faction. They did not know where that brat was and couldn't find Severus either. The supporters, mostly inner circle, had failed to find the missing sources of power and so were punished.

The six of the Seven lured Nagini into a far off corner of the Manor and presented their offerings to her. She promptly ate them and within an hour she was dead. The six of the Seven, with First Born in the lead, then left Nagini's corpse there and went to find Becca and Harry. Just as they had slithered about a kilometer away to the Gaunt shack, Becca and Harry had finally found the ring. Knowing not to touch it, they put on gloves used yesterday for the basilisk dissecting and picked up the ring and put it into a secure black box. While the box was still open, Harry took a basilisk fang and jabbed it into the center of the ring. A puff of smoke slithered from the ring and then with a tormented scream descended into the ground as if it was on its way to purgatory. Becca closed the box and locked it with a parsletongue password.

First Born then hissed to his master. "_Yes Master that is what happened with Nagini as well. She was a bad snake; we could taste her lies when she spoke with us. She said her master was honorable and true but she knew he was not. The piece of soul left her body when she died." _Harry bowed to the snake in respect of the act they had performed. It was unusual for a magical snake to kill another but they knew it had to be done and this one had belonged to the man who cursed their mother and killed their father.

"_Thank you, First Born. You have done a great deed for the magical community." _Harry hissed to his new familiar.

"Now," Harry said as he looked around, "let's get back to the others and get finished so we can leave and go to our next adventure." He was chuckling as he said it, remembering the activities that precipitated Severus saying the same thing just hours ago. There were an awful lot of details in getting ready to leave and he was beginning to think they would never be finished.

When he had said as much to Becca earlier in the day as they were making all these plans, she had responded "The more work a painter does before he paints, the better the picture." He wasn't sure what that actually meant, but it insinuated that there was much preparation to be done before you could paint a picture or in their case change the world, at least for one infant Harry James Potter in another time line.

In some ways, Harry was absolutely awestruck at the amount of trouble and planning anyone would go through to see that he was raised happy and healthy. This was more than anyone ever had done for their own children and most certainly more than anyone went through for an orphan. He knew that Severus had said that he was worth it, that the wrong people had gotten hold of him and the others didn't realize what was happening or how he had to live. It was still something to behold every time they had a meeting or talked about another task to be completed that most of this was for him or the younger him.

Becca interrupted his thoughts when she said "Come on Harry, it's time to get back to the castle. We will portkey straight to the Chamber." With that said she pulled out a long scarf and had each snake bite part of it with Harry grabbing one end and Becca on the other. Kreacher looked a little hesitant with seven snakes so close, but he also took hold of the same end Harry had and they were all whisked to what was left of the chamber library. They were not sure about Kreacher being able to pop back into the chamber from this distance as he was not a Hogwarts elf so they took no chances and made him use the portkey.

Harry stood there in awe; the house elves had completely emptied the chamber library and packed all the books that were from floor to ceiling. The bookshelves were now bare and there was only some furniture left. He watched as elves and humans were working together all moving around going to do some task or other. It was like a train station where over a hundred elves and a few people were scurrying around to get somewhere or do something. Harry had further learned that Severus had sent more elves to Spinner's End to pack his house and even more to Prince Manor with a missive for his elves there to pack the entire house and to come to Hogwarts. Harry was very grateful for magic as it would have been an impossible undertaking to gather all this in one place the muggle way, especially undetected. As he stood there an elf brought him a box of ashes and bowed leaving to do some other task that was underway. Harry looked at the box of ashes and saw them move. He immediately understood that he had Fawkes in his hands. He was so happy tears were silently leaking one by one down his cheek. He didn't notice Severus walk into the room looking for him.

Without delay Severus sought out Harry as he heard that his lover had returned. The Potions Professor saw what he thought was distress on Harry's face and the tears so he immediately was looking for someone to hex for hurting his Harry. As he got closer, he noticed the ashes in the box in his young lover's hands and immediately knew it was Fawkes. At least they were able to save the phoenix. It would be another strike to Dumbledore and a good one too. Last night they had all heard the old coot tell the phoenix he was chained forever. It was a wonder that they had come up with such a simple plan. The spell the headmaster used tied Fawkes to the perch as every time the phoenix had a burning the chains would burn away. So when he did burn, as soon as the ashes hit the pan in the bottom of the perch, he was automatically chained again. Becca's theory was that if there was in interruption of the magic signal then the bird would be free. Her theory of electro magnetic interference was quite useful for this and Severus wondered where she got her knowledge from. It was exceedingly Slytherin of her using muggle means for a magical solution. He was extremely proud of her.

Someone came rushing into the room, as they looked it was Doc calling from the room of mirrors as they had dubbed it. "You've got to come see this. Dumbledore just walked into his office and I think he is going to explode!"

As no one had deactivated the mirrors yesterday, one of the elves had been continually monitoring the goings on of the castle after Becca and Harry had changed some of the mirrors to see other parts of the castle. They had seen when Dumbledore returned yesterday and McGonagall later that day. Then Flitwick had come and left again. Now Dumbledore had come after more auditing at Gringotts and found his phoenix gone. They all rushed to sit in front of a mirror. "This is better than television." Harry said as he sat down. Some of the others looked at him like he was crazy and he was reminded of the fact they probably didn't know what a television was.

They all stood around, adults, snakes and house elves all together watching the mirror. If Severus had ever dreamed of this, he would have said it was the craziest thing he ever saw. It seemed normal and surreal at the same time. He would never have thought that house elves and wizards would sit and watch a mirror. As they stayed there watching Dumbledore go from mad to angry to outraged to throwing things, to throwing curses everywhere, to destroying the perch where Fawkes used to be… more and more elves came into the mix. They watched him destroy his office, then his living quarters, then start bellowing for the elves to come and serve him. Of course the elves were already in the chamber and were not under his control anymore as Hogwarts herself was not under his control anymore. Whenever a headmaster was proven to not have the children's best interest at heart, they lost the control of the school. A new headmaster would have to be chosen before the next school year or there would be no school. Most of the elves would be gone so there would not be much help either.

Harry did not feel sorry for the old coot losing his temper at all the inanimate objects in the rooms of his office and living quarters. He felt some justice was served and he was just glad that he and most of the creatures were going to be out of here and the old coot could not do a thing about it.

"I wonder what he is going to do when he finds out everything in his office is fake and cannot be repaired." Becca looked at Harry. "The elves told me that when they packed, they just copied everything in his office as I instructed them and packed everything of value. It seems that he either used your money to buy the item, or owed you the money the item could be sold for, or it belonged to the founders. When the elves told the room to back everything belonging to Harry Potter the whole office, desk and all, forced itself into the trunk." Becca and Harry laughed together as if it were a private joke until Harry had to catch his breath.

"Yeah? Well now we also have his phoenix too. No wonder he is going apocalyptic."

Becca got up from the scene of the mirror and started to address everyone there. "Everyone, I think we need to finish up here and get moving. I don't want to be here incase he tries to curse the school into oblivion. To me, he looks furious enough to tear down the entire castle looking for our new group members. Every one has worked really hard and we appreciate everything you have done. We now need a brief meeting to see what else there is left to do." She turned and whispered into Harry's ear. "We need to discuss on how to find Remus. It was not in my plan to give him the werewolf's cure in this time line and I don't know how to get to him."

"That's easy; just send a note with Hedwig. She should still be here in the castle owlery and…" Harry's heart dropped like a stone in his chest. "Oh Merlin, we have to find and save Hedwig. She will be his next target!" Harry jumped out of his seat and started to yell, "Severus, come quick, Hedwig, he will go after Hedwig now. We have to stop him." Then he looked at the mirror and hissed "_Show me owlery_." His heart was pounding so fast he was almost seeing spots in front of his eyes. Not his beloved Hedwig, he couldn't stand it if something happened to her because he had been too busy to pay attention. He should have gotten her as soon as they arrived. Just then one of the mirrors changed to show the school owls and there among them was Hedwig sleeping in one of the highest most nests. Suddenly she woke up and looked around as if she had heard or had seen something and then took off in flight.

Harry stood there panting as if he were about to explode and hissed to the mirror again. "_Follow Hedwig_." Harry directed the mirror in snake language, but the mirror could only see as far as the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Harry was glad Hedwig went to the forest but he was worried about her. She was his first friend and he had almost forgotten about her, but he didn't know how to get to her now. Unexpectedly about five agonizing minutes later another mirror turned to a spot in the forest that had a strange looking rock in the ground. Harry looked at it and tried to think of where it could be. He looked at Becca to ask her but she was looking at the same thing with a perplexed expression on her face. Then she turned to Harry as they moved closer for a better look.

"Harry, I think she found the chambers exit. The one that is hidden and cannot be found so you can't enter. Look, at the top of the rock, it looks as if a snake is carved into the stone. She is a really special owl to have found it. I wonder if we can open the stone." She twisted back to the mirror and said in parsletongue "_Open the chamber exit." _ They all watched in amazement as the rock moved up out of the ground to reveal an entrance and Hedwig swooshed into that entrance as if she new her master was waiting for her. A few minutes later, she was hooting outside the library doors. Another mirror had changed again to show the outside of the library chamber where the mother basilisk had been dissected. There was the owl walking on the floor waiting for her master.

"YES! YES!" Harry shouted as he jumped in the air and ran to open the door where Hedwig was waiting for him. "Severus, she is here! We have her!" Severus followed his exuberant mate a little more sedately with an unusual smile plastered on his face. Sometimes things did work out the way you wanted and fate smiled down and said yes you may have good fortune. His Harry was so excited. He just hoped the owl didn't present a problem with the snakes. The next thing would be Harry starting a magical menagerie or some other pet shop for exotic pets, snakes and owls that live together, oh and not to forget the phoenix, but of course they didn't know if Fawkes would stay, the phoenix was just a baby now and may leave when he was full grown..

Harry threw open the doors and Hedwig flew into the air and landed on Harry's arm. Severus saw he had transfigured a glove onto his right hand and arm to accommodate the bird. His mate was stroking the bird and talking to it as if no one else was in the room. Severus closed the doors and headed back to the room of mirrors again to see what else Dumbledore was doing, just happy that Harry was in such high spirits. He really deserved some good news with everything that he had been through.

Severus arrived in the mirror room where the rest of the group was. It seemed so strange that they worked together so well for not knowing each other but for a few days. Then he remembered that they all had worked together before, he and Harry were the interlopers. They had accepted the two soulmates as long lost friends and they worked with them just as they did amongst themselves. He looked forward to his new life with Harry where he was not branded a Death Eater and Harry could walk a street without fearing for his life.

The group together watched as the headmaster screamed and wailed his existence and how his plans had been ruined. Then, sure enough, they watched as he started to head to the owlery. Severus shouted for Harry to come in and watch as the old fool tried to climb up the stairs at a run. Harry came in to watch with Hedwig still on his arm. He placed his other arm around Severus as the old coot was just making the top of the stairs to the nests of owls. He appeared to be looking for something then called for Hedwig. Harry was right; his beloved owl had been next on Dumbledore's list of things to use for revenge.

Becca spoke with Harry and said "Do you think Hedwig can find Remus before the headmaster does? We could perhaps use a Hogwarts owl to try to get a coded message through. I don't want to risk your Hedwig and we will be leaving soon. It may take her more than one day to find him."

"What do we have left to do?" Harry asked her, he knew Hedwig could find Moony but he didn't know how long it would take her. "There is another owl I use sometimes from the school. She is pretty good and should be able to find him, and then we would not lose Hedwig." Severus picked up on the conversation from Harry's side, as he still had an arm around him, said.

"Don't worry about Hedwig Harry; we will use my eagle owl. He is not my familiar and I have only had him a few years. I am just happy we are together; I don't really care about leaving him here. In fact, I will make sure that he knows he can be Remus' owl and that the wolf can keep him." Severus went quiet for a while and then said, "Actually, I think we can reset the wards at Prince Manor and allow Remus to use the place. The elves left some of the furniture, and we can ask them to restock the kitchen and let Remus use it. Most of the books are gone but Dumbledore does not know about the place and has never been there. It would be a perfect place for him to use as a base. Maybe he can save this time line or something."

For the first time since Becca came, Harry was sad to be leaving someone behind.

Becca noticed the look on Harry's face and decided to change the subject. "Hey guys, I hate to interrupt, but we have the diadem the elves found in the room of requirement. Who wants the honor of destroying it?" Then she used a little sing song voice as if she were a child, "It's the last one. The final revenge on Voldemort."

Harry chuckled at her little girl face with the batting eyelashes and small squeaky sing song voice. "I vote Severus be the one to destroy it, we have already had fun, and it's his turn now." It was true, Gorbink had destroyed the cup, Harry had destroyed the diary and the ring, Becca had destroyed the locket and the part of the soul in Harry's head, and The Seven had destroyed Nagini.

"Why, thank you, Harry, it's nice to know you can share." He gave his soulmate a quick kiss and a hug and followed Becca to the other room where the diadem was located. Harry continued to watch the headmaster as he was now cursing the owlery. At least the birds had flown away before he killed them.


	23. Receiving the Gifts

Chapter 23: The Gifts

Severus didn't like this, all this fuss for the wolf that had almost killed him. The only reason he was going along with this was for his Harry. He couldn't remember a particular moment when he started thinking about Harry that way, but it was sometime after the first bonding. Harry wanted to help Remus and they were leaving anyway so Severus could be gracious and go along with the plan. What he **did **know is that finding Harry almost dead at his uncle's house changed his attitude about a lot of things.

They spent an extra day getting things ready for Remus. They devised a special message that would appear after Remus said a password only he and Harry knew. The werewolf's cure was packed and copies of all the books they thought he could use were moved to Prince Manor. The wards were reset and enough food supplies and other essentials were purchased by the elves and sent there so Remus would be able to live comfortably. There was also a considerable amount of galleons left so Remus would not have to work for awhile and would have the money to start his own little faction in the war. Harry also made sure there were six new sets of robes for him to wear with instructions in a letter to wear them no matter what. If he was going to be a leader, he needed to look like one.

The only strange thing was that three of the elves from Hogwarts decided to stay there at Prince Manor and help Remus. They knew him from when he was a student and then later as a professor and they asked to be free to stay. It was unusual to say the least but they could bond to him when he arrived. They also left ingredients for more werewolves' potion and the recipe so they could make more. It didn't take a potions master to make it, but someone would at least have to be good at potions.

The manor was not full of the precious antique furniture that was prevalent before they packed up the place, but they knew Remus could transfigure some nice furniture to fill the house with and of course the elves would help. Harry just hoped Remus would listened to what he had written about Dumbledore activities. He would need that information to help with the war and maybe keep him and Tonks alive. Harry was really struggling with his emotions about leaving him here but they didn't even know where he was and so Harry had written a long letter. Not telling him exactly how he was leaving but about the Dursleys and how he was rescued and what had happened. He truly regretted leaving him and hoped they would see each other again. He told him about the horcruxes they had destroyed and how now anyone could kill Voldemort and his followers.

The note Harry sent to Remus with Severus' owl and the letter he left at the manor for him were both written in parsletongue that would change to English with the password Remus knew. It was something they devised back in third year so they could get messages through and no one would be able to decipher them even if they were intercepted. He had been able to keep Remus up to date without Dumbledore's interference. The only problem had been getting messages back to Harry. They had tried a couple of times but Harry's messages were always seized before he received them. Sometimes he would get them several days later and sometimes he wouldn't get them at all. At first they thought that it might have been Death Eaters or their children at the school. Now, Harry understood it was probably the headmaster that had exerted the control over his mail.

Severus seemed to know what Harry was thinking as he came up behind him and held him close. They were ready to go and needed to leave soon. Becca had given them another scarf; this one was a portkey back to where they had healed Harry. Severus pulled out the scarf and turned Harry around to look at him. "You will see him again, ready to go love?" Harry nodded and took hold of the scarf and with that Severus said "Mission Control."

They landed in the same room that had been dubbed the hospital room. As they stood there the others were making their way back to the safe house. Five adults and numerous elves started popping in by the droves; everyone getting ready for the trip to the past. There must have been almost two hundred elves with their belongings and all of them ready to serve their new masters. It really was a sight to behold, young and old all with smiles on their faces. Harry felt like he was watching one of those muggle western movies about some wagon trains, everyone excited to be going somewhere else.

Two more adults appeared in the room. Gorbink, Harry recognized but the other was a light elf and was introduced as Shashi. For some reason, Becca sent them to the past first. They had gone into a room with runes on the walls and floors; there was a pentagram in the middle of the floor. They stood in the middle of the pentagram with eight elves and Becca wrote something in the air with her wand while chanting something low, under her breath. Harry didn't hear it but the next thing he knew Gorbink, Shashi and the house elves were gone.

Harry and Severus had watched closely to what Becca had done and wondered if they would learn this also, or if their other selves had. They watched Becca as she sent being after being along and Severus realized there were only a few humans that were going, but there were over two hundred nonhumans. Not always using the same wand movements and sometimes chanting different words or in a different tone. They wanted to ask her about it but didn't want to interrupt her as she was concentrating on what she was doing. She sent the elves ten at a time and it took quite a while. After one hundred they stopped for the day, ate and went to sleep, Becca had to replenish her magical core.

The next day started the whole procedure over again. Each set of ten elves took approximately twenty to thirty minutes. After four sets of elves Harry and Severus made Becca take a rest, eat something and then she would start over again. When only Doc, Becca, Harry and Severus were left, she looked at Harry and said. "We have to go back to Hogwarts to the Chamber of Secrets. There is something else we need to do. I didn't do it before because there were too many people around and our window is not going to be open much longer, I needed to send the others ahead while we still had more time to compensate if something went wrong. This is something personal as well as special." The young woman paused to get some tea then continued.

"In the Chamber, there is a ritual room. We need to go there so you can accept your inheritance from the founders. We could not do it when everything else was going on, but each of the founders named you their heir and each have a present for you, a gift that is to be bestowed upon you as soon as you can claim it. It is the last thing we need to do before we go back in time. I hope you still want to do this. I know it has been hard to leave Remus."

"It is hard to leave Remus," Harry said, "but you said this war is going to get worse and we are going to change the time line completely. I don't want my son to have to go through anything like what I did and certainly not go through more than I did. I am alright with this. I have a wonderful lover and soul mate, and a son to look forward to and protect. It's not like I won't see the younger Remus and he will be safe." Harry studied Becca's eyes and continued. "You look tired and I think we need to wait and go back to Hogwarts tomorrow. Lets get a good night's sleep and we can do this in the morning."

"No, Harry we have to go now and I have to remind you that we don't have Gorbink to distract Dumbledore anymore. We are on our own now and have to plan this carefully. We can portkey straight into the chamber but he may detect us if we are not careful. That's why I made sure he was not there when we were coming into the castle before."

Severus then spoke up and told Becca. "Don't worry, I feel sure we will be able to pull this off. We will get in and out of there so Harry can get what he needs from the founders." Severus got a thoughtful look on his face. "Do we need to bring some of The Seven with us for protection?"

"Probably not, I just don't want anyone to be surprised if there is trouble. We should keep the familiars here so they won't be harmed. Let's get going." Becca said, as she was anxious to get finished so they could move on to their destination.

They portkeyed into the chamber and immediately made their way to the room of mirrors. They saw that Dumbledore was resting in his quarters, so far so good. The old coot probably wore himself out casting curses and throwing fits. They made their way to the ritual room that was just beyond the bedrooms in Slytherin's living quarters.

In the ritual room they found the portraits of the founders and one couple that Harry didn't recognize. A pentagram was etched on the floor, similar to the room that Becca used to send people back to the past. Becca indicated that Harry should stand in the center of the pentagram and recite a spell she had written on a piece of parchment.

"Masters of Hogwarts, Four of the Ancients

I invoke your presence now, to receive that which was foretold

Master of Light, and Master of dark

To receive my inheritance, I summon your presence now."

All five of the portraits came alive and stared at Harry standing in the middle of the pentagram. They knew immediately who he was and why he was there. Each of the founders and the older couple stepped out of their portraits to stand in front of the young man. Harry was just watching them, speechless. He had never seen anyone step out of a portrait in a corporeal body before and knew this must be a special magic. They came before him and nodded their heads in acknowledgement of his request for their assistance.

Severus, who was standing on the sidelines watching all of this, was dumbfounded as the founders stepped out of their portraits. He also had never seen any kind of magic like this and was speechless. This magic was even beyond his imagination and he could not fathom how they accomplished this.

The four founders then turned to Severus even though he had not moved a muscle. Godric looked back at Harry and indicated Severus with a motion of his head. "This is your soulmate?" At Harry's nod, Godric continued. "He should join you in the pentagram and receive the gifts also." The others agreed with a nod of their head and Severus slowly stepped into the pentagram as if moving in a dream. Godric explained "Since you are soulmates you may often share your magic. It is common among a soulmated pair to even borrow a mate's magic if the need arises. The gifts we give to Harry will be shared with Severus, but his being in the circle will make those gifts stronger."

As Severus stood in the middle of the pentagram, Harry and he were instructed to face each other and hold hands forming a small circle. After the circle was formed, Godric told them this was the symbol of everlasting unity, the circle never ending. Then they were told to look into each others cores and merge as the six adults formed another circle around them. They didn't see the magic start to swirl, but could feel the power. As Severus stared into Harry's eyes and beyond, he could see the brilliant light and the colors surrounding him and was excited to know that blocks were completely gone and Harry was whole.

Salazar was the first to speak and he gave them the gift of parsletongue and the gift of potions. The ability of Divination was something you had to be born with, but some people could get impressions without the actual gift and Salazar gave them the ability to see impressions of the future. Helga then spoke and gave them both the gift of charms and languages. Rowena then spoke and gave them the gift of knowledge and understanding of arithmancy and runes and the gift of teaching. Then Godric spoke and gave them the gift of transfiguration and defense even though they had knowledge in these fields, the gift of transfiguration would allow them to be animagi. It would just take a little training. Then an old man spoke and gave them the gift of magics over the air and earth and the ability to command them. The older woman spoke and gave them the ability of shape shifting and healing.

As each one had spoken another strand of magic swirled around the room. Magnificent colors of purple, gold, blue, green, red and silver with threads of colored light and power that were flowing through the room and through their bodies. Circling faster and faster as the six figures chanted out in the room in some unknown language, until the ribbons of light in the royal colors were so fast it looked like a rainbow flying through the air at light speed. As if in a wind tunnel with sound, the air around them swirled faster and faster. The power was so palpable you could almost taste it, and it tasted sweet like honey and milk filling their bodies, until the ribbons of color snapped into the bodies of the soulmated couple and stopped with a final explosion of power. Silence, dead silence. Severus and Harry almost fell to the floor after the power surge, but were caught by two of the men in the circle.

After only half an hour the ritual was complete and Severus and his mate were allowed to speak with the founders and the other couple. When they were introduced the two younger men looked at the group and nearly fell to the floor again. They had known to expect the four founders but not the other two, Morgan LeFay and Merlin, the man himself. Harry wanted to know why he was named an heir when he was not descended from all of them and his mother was muggleborn. Godric answered his question.

"Actually Harry, if you go back into history, you will find that most wizards are related in one way or another. Also you should be told that there is no such thing as a muggle born witch or wizard. If you had ever studied genetics, you would know that there are recessive and dominant genes. When magical cores are the recessive gene then a squib is born but when the dominant gene creates the magical core then you have a witch or wizard, how strong the gene is determines the power of said witch or wizard. Under no circumstances are two full bloodied muggles able to produce a truly magical child, just as an acorn cannot produce an apple tree." He paused after this statement so they could get the full impact of what he was saying.

"Muggles can produce telekinetic children and children with ESP but only very RARELY. These children only have one aspect of what we call gifts with no magical core to progress any farther than that. They are merely able to use about twenty percent of their brain instead of seven to ten percent that most muggles are able to use. It is losing track of squibs that creates what we now call muggleborns. So in a way, you are related to all six of us. When we first started the school, we didn't have this information and wanted to admit muggleborns into the school, Salazar was the only one who objected. We found out later that the true muggleborns did not have a magical core and only exhibited one 'gift' and could not learn real magic" Harry was learning more in a short conversation with the founders than he ever learned before. This was all new to him and he imagined that much of this information was lost through time.

Helga then took up the conversation. "We have seen what is to happen to our world. You are the key to the future existence of Hogwarts and its students. You will have the knowledge to keep going on. The headmaster of this time does not function in the best interest of the school or its students, only himself. You are our future and we have designated you our heir, heir of the school and heir to our legacy. This includes the Hogwarts of the timeline you are going to create. The new future of Hogwarts will be in your hands and not of the infant Harry as he has another destiny. There are vaults to help you on your way as you may already know. We have placed them there from long ago knowing that you would be born to carry on and teach the true old ways. The old ways before greed and evil became so prevalent in this world."

Rowena then picked up the conversation "We know this time line is not going to continue. The evil is spreading between the two immoral wizards vying for power and stealing power from others. This cannot be allowed. Although there would be no good without evil, when evil dominates over the light and dark, nothing good can come of it. In the beginning of time, light and dark magic worked together. Light creatures kept the peace by day while the dark creatures kept the peace by night. All creatures were treated as equal by the others and each had a special gift in their magic to give to the world. This is the true old way and what needs to be reestablished. You can bring this information to the world and make others understand."

It was then Salazar's turn. "Every known ailment to the wizard had a cure once, but corruption and evil infiltrated our world and the recipes were lost in time or the ailments were mutated into something so bad that the medicinal potions would not work or could not be modified because the cause was not known. There are many lost potion recipes in the books from my library. You have taken them and are welcome to them. Use them well. We want to see our knowledge be put to use not left in a closet and only used for evil purposes like what the headmaster would do. This knowledge passes on to you so you may bring it to the world. You are our hope and not just from one prophesy. You as a couple will remember our missive, and your children will have the power to help change our world and keep it safe." He turned and looked at the Professor and complimented him, "You have made me proud Severus, being in my house and becoming a potions master, and you Harry, next time let the hat choose. I know that it would have been difficult in my house, but they take care of their own."

Merlin stepped forward and said, "You have been given power over the elements. You can now borrow power from the earth and the air if you need it. Do not abuse this gift; it only works when the purpose is for the good of others and the protection of yourselves so you may survive and continue your work. The more giving you are, the more power you will have available to you.

Morgan LeFay then came forth and said, "You are important to our world, but only if you make others important too. A king that rules with an iron fist and seeks only to please himself is doomed for failure and will be hated by his people, but a king that rules with love and compassion will always have the loyalty of his people and the power to make change.

Godric then spoke up. "Our time with you comes to an end and we must go. The spell to have a corporeal body does not last long. He looked at Becca in the corner of the room. "Good luck little spitfire and keep these two safe." Becca nodded and hugged each one of the founders and the older couple as if they were long lost friends and then all six of the adults each hugged Harry and yes even Severus. Just before they entered their frames, they turned as one to the soul mated couple and all said together, "The headmaster will be banished from this place as soon as you leave. We didn't want him interfering in the tasks you needed to complete. Happy Birthday, Harry."

"One last word before you leave," Godric said, "our portraits cannot leave this time line. The magic used to create our bodies out of the portrait will render us useless in another time. But we can be moved to another place in this time with people that will use our information for the good of our world and not of their own good.

The portraits then lost their animation as if the six of them went to sleep and turned off the lights.

Becca was the one to suggest that they send them to Prince Manor. As Severus and Harry agreed, she called one of the house elves that had stayed there to help Remus and when they came, reduced the size to a manageable elf size and let the elves take the portraits. They portkeyed back to Mission Control as Becca called it (personally Harry thought she had seen way too many muggle Science Fiction movies), and they were back in the hospital room. Doc was waiting there for them as they arrived. He looked Becca over and said she needed to get some food and rest. It had taken longer then they had anticipated and since she was pregnant they wanted her to be in full health before doing any time travel again.

Becca agreed for once and went to the kitchen to get an apple before going to lie down on the bed for an hour.

Severus and Harry did the same thing. There was much to reflect about and discuss before leaving. The founders had really said much to change their way of thinking and brought to light some truths that had long been forgotten.

That evening, Becca sat with Harry and Severus to determine exactly how far along in his pregnancy Harry had been before Becca transferred the fetus. She needed to pinpoint the exact day they should arrive in the past to make Evan's birthday coincide with infant Harry's. The birthdays did not have to match, but the closer the better, Becca had an idea to create a birth certificate for twins with the one birth to give infant Harry an alternate identity for when they traveled or needed to hide. She did not anticipate this happening, but wanted to be prepared for anything.

After the calculations were done and double checked, the four adults went through the same ritual as the others. They landed in a small ballroom with an older Gorbink present to greet them.

A/N A friend of mine told me it was not fair that I give my reviewers a preview on what is coming up in the next chapter, without offering it to everyone. As those of you who have reviewed know, I answer all my reviews personally for anyone I have an email address for and has not given an anonymous review. If anyone wants to reach me, you can use my author name on yahoo. I usually have a chapter up by Wednesday and at least one on the weekend but most of the time two will be posted.


	24. Welcome to the Past

Chapter 24: Welcome to the Past

Gorbink and several house elves were standing in the receiving room; it was very large like a small ballroom. The elves immediately took all their trunks and the familiars as well as Fawkes to bring them to their rooms. Of course The Seven just followed the elves as the house elves didn't want to carry seven snakes. It seems the elves were a little leery about being friendly with something that could grow big enough to consider them **food**.

Severus looked around the great room. It was a beautiful high polished black marble floor with white walls. There were windows showing the sun streaming in and a rough landscape. He thought they must be in the country somewhere.

Becca started explaining, "This area will be, among other things, a training facility. We have several classrooms in another area that the Ministry is unable to detect spells from." Becca then looked toward Gorbink. "Were there any problems? Is everything set in place?"

Gorbink then ran over a list of things that had already been accomplished. "Yes, we have a few things to do but everything else is in place." Gorbink gave her three small boxes which contained their Gringotts keys.

"Thanks" Becca took the boxes from Gorbink and then said "You have been more help than we could have ever imagined. Your service has been invaluable, were there any problems?"

"Only one, the Dursleys almost bought number five Privet Drive instead of number four. We had to sell them number four at a considerable loss to get them to accept it. I did not like losing money to those horrible people and the squib agent we were using had to be paid the commission as if the house sold at regular market value." Gorbink had a snarl on his face and obviously thought the Dursleys were the scum of the earth. He disliked dealing with greedy people as most Goblins did.

"It's all for a good cause, don't worry about it. We needed them in place and quite frankly I wouldn't care if we gave it to them, as long as they are in that house when the headmaster delivers Baby Harry. They have to agree to the blood wards so the old coot does not get suspicious. What about Mrs. Figg?"

"She is in the same house as before, already planted there, as if someone already knows what is going to happen."

"Interesting, I didn't have any record of her being in the neighborhood already. Is that a coincidence?"

"I don't believe in them and I don't think so." Gorbink answered.

"I am going to go brief Harry and Severus, give them their keys and statements and other identity documents and we may have some questions for you later. Will you be available?"

"Not today, I have to go back to the bank; we are going into the LaStrange vault today. Belletrix LaStrange put some rare items in it yesterday and we think one might be the cup. I will be available tomorrow. By the way, the president of Gringotts thanks you for your humble contribution to the bank and has made good use of the room. He was most impressed with your building strategy, and was happy to have some out of work goblins used for building an underground fortress. He was most amused by your story; even fifty years ago he didn't like Dumbledore and has been keeping him out of other unclaimed vaults owned by squibs and squib-borns. You have already created quite a fuss and you haven't been here five minutes."

"But thanks to you my information has been here for fifty years. Tell him I accept his thanks and wish for a very equitable and happy partnership and future with him. We will call you if anything major comes up, if not we will see you tomorrow. Thank you Gorbink for all your help."

"Becca, you don't have to thank me, you put goblins to work and allowed me to save my family in this time. You have let me build your empire in the time I have been here and have helped the magical communities to prosper. A goblin admires nothing more than prosperity." He grinned with his toothy smile that looked like a snarl. "The Goblins continue to work as nobody else is able to make this building substance, especially with the rune work needed, and because the acromantula shells do not give off a magical residue, it has been possible to sell it to muggles. They are willing to pay even more than wizards as it is virtually indestructible."

"Let me get the other guys up to speed and we will start making some future business decisions next week. Give them a week to settle in and look over the documents." Taking that as a dismissal, Gorbink left out a door across the room.

Harry and Severus had watched this conversation, their heads moving back and forth like looking at a tennis match. They could follow parts of the conversation but some of what was said, did not make sense to them.

"Follow me gentlemen." Becca said on her way to a side door about ten meters away from where they were standing. They had noticed that there were about fifteen doors around the room and each was made of the same material as the floor. The door they went through was about three inches thick and very heavy. They wondered who the doors were keeping in, or keeping out. It was a beautiful piece of craftsmanship.

They entered a room that was nicely furnished with deep green leather sofas and chairs, a grand antique desk in the corner facing the room, with a high back padded office chair. The room was lit with windows all along one wall. They saw on a perch a half grown Fawkes and The Seven were also in this room. There were two doors that lead out of the room not including the one they just came through. They found out that one door led to a stairwell and four very nicely appointed bedroom suites and the other led to where the kitchens and two dining rooms were located, one smaller, and one more like a small ball room with a large table for entertaining. There were four house elves in attendance in the kitchen making a delicious smelling lunch. Harry could also smell his favorite treacle tart and his stomach rumbled.

Severus chuckled and gave Harry a light punch to his arm. "Always hungry are you Harry?"

"You should be hungry too, Sev, it's been hours since we ate." Harry fake pouted to Severus. "Time travel makes me hungry."

Severus gave him his stern Potions Professor look, "Harry, you are beginning to sound like Mr. Weasley and I don't think you want to do that."

"That was just cruel, Sev, you know I would never eat like that. Watch it or you might be punished." Harry snarled back but couldn't hide the grin completely. "I have ways to punish you." He joked in an ominous tone, while shaking a finger at him. Severus laughed outright at his antics as they made their way to the small dining room with their arms around each others waist.

The food appeared as soon as they sat at the large table. The table itself could easily fit sixteen people around it but the room was large so it fit nicely with the sideboard of fresh fruit and pitchers of juice and water. Becca, Severus, Harry and Doc didn't discuss anything about Gorbink's earlier conversation but kept the dinner conversation light and friendly. When they had finished eating they moved as if by mutual consent back to the sitting area they had first come in. Doc took his leave at the same time and made plans to see them in the next few days. Becca handed him a portkey to his new office as she knew he would be anxious to see what had been done.

The three remaining adults all sat around the fireplace. Harry, for the first time, noticed the unusual but rather large fireplace; there were two what looked like smaller inglenooks that were about chest high on each side of the main hearth in the middle. He assumed them to be miniature inglenooks for decoration or something. All together the room was warm and inviting and tastefully elegant. Severus asked about the two inglenooks or mini fireplaces. It was unusual as he had never seen something like that before, but then again, since meeting Becca, there were lots of things he had never seen before.

Becca answered with a strange smile on her face. Harry had come to know it as her shock factor smile. It was the same smile she used when about to reveal something no one knows or has heard of. "It is what I call a 'mini firecall' and Prince Conglomerate will be installing these as soon as we get up that division up and running. The mini firecall allows you to stand and talk to someone, instead of being on your knees with a regular fireplace. It is safer too, as people cannot come through it.'

"The mini floo is only one small aspect of the companies we had in the past or my past your future. These are safer as they can be spelled to be open when your large floo is not. I wanted to talk to you about a few things actually. We can take a week to settle in but then there are many business contracts to discuss and we have some major changes to make so you can fit in here. I have different identities for you without having too many changes in your appearance."

Harry interrupted her and asked. "What changes do you mean? I know we can't look like ourselves but I was not thinking about drastic physical changes in our appearances. I know when Hermione and I used a time turner we were not allowed to be seen. It was one of the rules are we going to have to hide for the rest of our lives? I wasn't expecting that." Harry looked a little perturbed at the prospect of hiding all the time. Becca couldn't blame him, but she had already had a plan.

"Harry, you and Severus do not have to hide, but it would be better if we change your appearance a little. Like we did in getting rid of your glasses, you can see perfectly clear and it changes your appearance just by not wearing them. Also, you are now Harry Joseph Pratt-Prince. The Potter line produced a female squib in the late seventeen hundreds that moved to Australia and married another squib by the name of Pratt. There have actually been several magical children from that line but none with the power to live in the magical world. You are now descended from them. Today's date is December 10, 1979. There was a child named Harold Joseph Pratt that died in childbirth on July 31, 1962. It makes you a year older so the bond won't be questioned with Severus."

'You are now seventeen years old and are an adult in the wizarding world. Because the family had strong genes, many of them looked a little like your father and your looks will not become an issue. Just tell everyone you got your eyes from your mother. The mother did have green eyes, but not your vibrant color. She also died in childbirth. The midwife was not available and there were complications, since they were in the outback there was no other help available and no other information available to other people."

Harry nodded and pondered what Becca had told him. "Won't people know that this person died? I mean, what if I run into someone who knows them?"

"The husband had three other children to rear and moved away to America where his sister was living. There is little chance of anyone knowing. The rest of the family died out a few years later. Besides, if you are concerned, you can use the name Prince and tell them it is your married name. Most people will not be crass enough to ask for your family name in business situations."

Severus spoke up then. "Is there a marriage certificate for us then?

Becca shook her head. "I would never presume to do that and I would think you would want your own ceremony. The bond is there and any one that has the ability can see it. It merely means that Harry has taken on your name. As you may know, in Australia, male wizards do not really marry together, but the ministry has to recognize them anyway. When you cemented your bond with the sex magic, Shashi pushed the paperwork through after a few weeks ago. He arrived here earlier and went to get the legalities completed. We needed a way to make you legal here with minimal fuss."

"And what of my identity? I am assuming that you have one for me also." Severus asked the young woman.

Becca nodded and answered. "Yes, your so many greats uncle moved to Germany in the early sixteen hundreds and moved around from country to country. He had many children, not all of them from the same partner, mind you, but your mother was of one of these lines. They have all been powerfully magical and mostly home schooled to keep the family magic in tact. They are quite the pureblood supremacists and were quite vocal about blood purity. However they died through the years, with their last remaining descendent twelve years ago. He was attacked by some death eaters for not joining Voldemort and was in a hospital in Mexico never regaining consciousness. No one ever knew his name as he had no identification and was in a muggle hospital. His name was Severs Masterson Prince and he was born February 26, 1943. He even looked a little like you but I would suggest having some minor surgery on the nose and maybe a plumping of the lips. Just a few subtle changes to make it look like you are another person. Again like Harry's the birth date is close enough to be you and no one will know any different. He went by the name Masterson instead of his first name so if you use the name Severs or Severus it will not mean anything to anyone now. We have to be more careful with you, Harry hasn't been born yet so he is not easily recognizable but you are already out there, teaching and a death eater. Glamour charms can be cancelled and seen through in some cases. It would be better to have a little cosmetic surgery to change your appearance."

"That sounds like you did a lot of research on this. You must have been planning this for a long time. Can you tell us where we are now?"

Becca smirked. "Of course I can, you are at number five Privet Drive in Surry under the stairs, or at least approximately seventy feet under it."

Harry and Severus stared at Becca for a full minute not saying anything to her, trying to process the information. Harry looked over at the windows with the country scene and stared. "It doesn't look like Privet Drive; it looks like we are away from everyone and every thing. What is that out the window?"

"Harry, its magic, those windows are spelled and actually show how this area looked before this subdivision was built about twenty years ago."

"Are you telling me we live next to my Aunt and Uncle already? I don't want to be reminded of what they did to me and I don't want to live here. Try again. I can't believe after what they put me through, you would put us here of all places so soon. Why?"

Becca could see that Harry was upset and she needed to diffuse the situation as fast as possible. "Harry, I didn't do it to torture you, I did it so we can be here for baby Harry. I actually thought you would like getting your revenge on these people. Think about it, Aunt Petunia looking through a hole, strategically placed in the two meter high wood fence around the yard, to see you and Severus snogging your little hearts out and going apocalyptic? Then as she brings other people to see, no one is there. We don't have to necessarily use magic to drive them crazy. They will do it themselves with their nosiness. They won't know who you are, Harry. They are not the actual ones who did those horrible things, but we can have fun anyway."

Severus, who had pulled Harry into his lap when he thought the younger man was going to be hysterical, snorted at Becca's idea of getting back at those people. He wanted Harry to know that he would be here for him, but he too did not realize they were on Privet Drive and he certainly did not want Harry to relive those bad memories by staying here. He did understand what Becca was doing however, in living here the headmaster would never know infant Harry was removed from his relatives and was actually living under the stairs in grandeur. It was a very Slytherin thing to do and one worthy of the old founder himself. He wondered if Slytherin had something to do with this. The girl did have his portrait after all and she seemed to know the founders very well when they were in the chambers. But right now he wanted to know about something else.

"Tell us what all that was about with Gorbink. Some of what you said I could follow, but what was that about putting goblins to work and other companies. How long has he been here?" Severus did not like feeling uninformed, especially about his life.

"Ah, I was wondering when you would say something about that." Becca called a house elf for some tea and biscuits and settled down into the chair she was sitting in to get more comfortable. This was going to take a while.

"I sent Gorbink and Shashi back fifty years. In fact the only ones to come to this time are us. Everyone else has been here for some time."

Severus interjected. "That would explain why the wand movements and the words were different with each group you sent?"

Becca nodded in assent and continued. "We needed to establish some functions of Prince Conglomerate as far back as we dared. Gorbink and Shashi are responsible for building this facility and needed the time to get it built before the muggles build the subdivision here so it would remain undetected."

"So why were the others sent back earlier?" Harry asked.

"PC needed to be functioning at a much earlier date. Do you remember when Sirius told you that Voldemort had all manner of dark creatures join his ranks in the first war?" Becca reminded him.

Harry nodded and said, "He said Voldemort made them promises so they would join and because of the way wizards treated them, they decided to side with him."

"Exactly, so we helped out instead. Our elves are loyal to us and bound to us. They help in the businesses. They are educated and given knowledge. Some of Salazar's books were duplicated and the originals were given back to the rulers of the other realms were they came from."

Severus nodded this time and said, "I remember seeing the books for dark and light elves and books on magics for wood nymphs and fairies and goblins and even vampires and werewolves." He looked at Becca for a moment and queried. "Are you telling me you have contacted all those different dark creatures and negotiated with them to join us?"

"Not exactly, but I think there is a better way for you to understand."

Becca got up and moved over to a part of the wall that was blank. She hissed at it "_open_" and a door appeared in which there was another room. This was another on the size of a small ballroom. It had to be fifteen meters square or better. It looked like an office with all kinds of computer equipment, desks and bookshelves. Journals spread everywhere with a flat screen that looked like a muggle television on the wall. The viewing screen had to be one and a half meter across and a meter high. Severus had never seen one that looked like this and figured it must be from the future.

There were bookshelves labeled timeline one through time line three. These must represent the three time lines in which the events did not happen correctly. Becca had said that the first timeline was skewed so she came back and it created a second time line that also did not work out then she came back again and a third was created. This looked like the information from all three timelines so they could look at what happened and try to anticipate what problems may arise in this time frame. It was not a guarantee as each time you go back into the past something changes, Evan was proof of that, but it could give them information on what might happen so contingencies could be planned.

Becca looked at the two men and was reminded of her grandfathers, she missed them terribly but she knew she was doing the right thing. "These are my notes from each timeline, also on these shelves are the plans I made that did not work out and the plans I have now. You will want to go over all of this and we can discuss any changes that you want to make. We could move to one of the Potter properties as James and Lily are already in hiding but Severus, we can't go to the Snape and Prince residences until we have your counterpart's authority. If he found us prematurely or didn't understand what we are doing here, he may hex and ask questions later. You know this is not a very good time for you right now. We don't want to reveal ourselves too quickly."

Severus nodded. He and Harry had a lot of information to go over. "Severus," Becca continued suddenly very weary, "I need to go lie down; I am very tired right now. You and Harry look through the information, even take a few days if you want and we will speak about whatever questions you may have later." She felt a little out of sorts, not used to being physically drained, she had wanted to explain about the room and a thousand other details that would need to be implemented soon. As she was leaving the massive office she gave her parting remark.

"Gentlemen, welcome to the war room" Having said that Becca started to leave.

Severus and Harry both raised an eyebrow and nodded. Harry saying "Please take care of yourself and have a good rest." Becca went back through the door and into the sleeping quarters of number five Privet Drive under the stairs.


	25. Welcome to the War Room

Chapter 25: Welcome to the War Room

They looked through the information for hours. The three timelines were actually very similar except the endings. In one time line Harry actually lived through the final battle but Severus didn't. Harry ended up married to Ginny (he shuddered at this) and she went through his fortune and dragged him from party to party enjoying herself as Lady Potter, wife of the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry died at the age of fifty unhappy and broke. Ginny's family however all had new houses and businesses that they didn't really work at, well except for the twins, but the bills were paid with Harry's money.

Becca had collected so much information including all the Gringotts statements for all three time lines and who got paid what. Harry didn't know how she got all the information, but it all looked like original documents with the seals in tact. She definitely covered all the possibilities. There was information on what the Weasleys did, what happened to Remus, some information on Wormtail, on Sirius, Harry's parents and Dumbledore. There was a pensive and a shelf full of vials of memories. They were collected from Becca as she looked into a mirror that could see what was happening and from the people themselves.

They found out just how far Dumbledore's machinations went. How he knew that Sirius was innocent from the beginning. How he manipulated the Wizengamot to not give him a trial and had him found guilty. He tried to have him given the kiss but not even he reached that far. Even how Dumbledore knew Severus was on the other side of the door when the prophecy was given and how he gave Trelawney a drug that made her say the prophecy at that time. No doubt something he found from one of the many books he stole over the years.

An elf popped in with tea, the two men didn't even realize how long they had been in the room. The elf put the tray for tea on a side table and bowed to Severus and Harry. "It is good to see you again sirs. Is there anything else I can get you?"

"Is Miss Becca awake yet?" Severus asked

The elf bowed again. "No Master Severus, this room is another time displacement area. One hour on the outside of this room equals twenty four hours on the inside. Miss Becca has only been sleeping about ten minutes. She put you here so that you would have time to digest the information and formulate your questions. Through that door," the elf then pointed to a door in the far wall, "is a bedroom suite you may use so that you don't have to leave before you are ready.

Severus looked at the little elf and noticed the pristine black uniform with a green shirt under the vest. He could see the Prince crest on the left of the chest on the black silk. The elf had such proper speech that he would not have believed it if he were not seeing it for himself. So he mentioned it to the elf. "You speak very properly, where were you educated?"

"All the Hogwarts elves that came from the other time line have been here many years now and Miss Becca, with the help of Master Shashi, arranged for us to be educated. She wanted elves to help the students of Hogwarts in their education. She wanted them to be able to help the teachers."

Severus looked at the elf with a blank expression when he asked. "How do you and the other elves feel about this?"

"We are happy to serve you and Master Harry and Mistress Becca sir." The elf bowed again and popped out of the room when Severus nodded his dismissal. He shook his head and looked at Harry who hadn't said a word during the whole conversation. He was already asleep in the chair he had been sitting in for the last few hours.

He woke up his young lover and they both ate a few of the pastries with their tea. After eating, Severus smirked as he could see that Harry was falling asleep again.

Severus picked up his soulmate and carried him through to the bedroom indicated by the elf, placed him on the bed, transfigured Harry's clothes into pajamas then his own and climbed in to get some sleep.

Severus and Harry woke up a few hours later. Since they were in the time room, Severus didn't know if a time spell would give him the actual time or the time in the room. He didn't even know if there was a time to the room. It was enough to give someone a headache. He shifted a little and pulled Harry over to his chest so he could kiss him awake. "How do you feel, love?"

"Overwhelmed. I think we have a lot more to do and I need the loo and do you think they have a shower in this place?"

"I am sure they must, they have everything else." They got up and started exploring their quarters. "Maybe we should call an elf to find out if we can get some of our clothes." At Harry's nod Severus called "Elf" and with a very quiet pop an elf appeared in the room. "Can we get a clean set of clothes and can you tell us where the bathroom is?"

"Yes, Master Prince, Valet Vince is my name and I will get your clothes for you, the bathroom is through this door." The elf walked over to one of the doors on the left of the massive king size bed. The bed had a blue silk comforter and large pillows encased, in the softest silk Severus had ever felt, in a light blue color that matched the sheets. The bathroom, when they entered was also done in light blue with dark blue appointments and linens. Severus was impressed with the elegance and simplicity of the whole thing. The shower was similar to the one they had used at what Becca called 'Mission Control' with three walls of shower jets. One wall was the same black with silver colored swirls and runes as was the floor.

Severus and Harry walked into the shower and turned on the water. They expected the water to be cold at first but it came out hot immediately and it felt wonderful. Severus found a flannel and looking at the soaps found a cinnamon scented one and lathered up the flannel to give Harry's back a good scrub. As he worked his way down, Harry moaned and leaned against the shower wall reveling in the feel of Severus' hands on him as he massaged and soaped his back. As the older mate continued lower the younger's moans got louder and Severus took advantage and pressed Harry farther against the wall to keep him still. Harry was now flat with his chest against the shower wall, his face turned to the side and then he moaned louder.

"Patience my Harry" Severus said in a low sexy voice. "You will not be disappointed." Harry moaned again, his lover's voice sent shivers down his spine and blood straight to his groin. Severus pushed the soapy rag between Harry's cheeks and rubbed his hand back and forth. He knew his lover was getting hard but wanted him to really enjoy this. He dropped the flannel and replaced it with his hand kneading the flesh that had him so mesmerized. What he wanted to do was slam into Harry and make him scream. He sighed and took control of his emotions so he could concentrate on pleasing Harry.

He slowly inserted a finger into the tight passage and moaned along with Harry. He needed that tight warmth around his hard pulsating shaft, he actually craved him like a drug, and he needed Harry. He added a second finger and Harry started to writhe and moan and "Oh Sev, more." From this angle he had to turn his hand just a bit and oh yes he found Harry's prostate and hit it hard. Harry was panting and mewling with nonsensical words and half sentences. Words like more and harder were most of what Severus heard because that was what he wanted too. He reached his other hand around to the front of his young lover and tightly gripped him to keep him from finishing too soon.

Severus added another finger and now three fingers were stretching and moving in that hot tight space that Severus was going to pierce soon. As he watched his Harry moaning and squirming against the shower wall he whispered in a low husky seductive voice. "Are you ready my Harry, ready to be mine, ready for the joining of our two bodies, ready for me to slam into you and make you scream, ready for..."

"Merlin, Sev, just stop talking and FUCK ME NOW!" Harry shouted and tried to turn around but Severus had a tight hold on him and would not let him move. He pulled out his fingers and lined up his purpling cock with Harry's bud of an opening, he slicked up his shaft with some of the silky lube he found on the shelf and pushed against his Harry's opening.

"Remember what I taught you Harry, if you push against me it won't hurt as bad. Love me Harry, you must want me inside you" Severus' voice was driving the poor young man to distraction. He whimpered and then whimpered again as he felt Severus at his opening but not filling him. Harry wanted more but Severus had his hand against Harry's low back and was keeping him in place. Harry tried to push his hips away from the wall to get more of Severus inside him but each time he tried Severus held him in place. "What do you want Harry, you have to want it. Do you want me Harry? Do you crave me as I crave you? Tell me Harry, how much do you want Me.?"

Harry was almost crying by now, so frustrated and needy. "Please." He whimpered to Severus, "Please" he whimpered again. "Need you, only you please." He could barely be heard with the mewling and whimpers between each word. Harry was now up against the shower wall with his arms flat and above his head.

"Are you ready my Harry?" The man in question whimpered a reply and then Severus slammed into the younger man for all he was worth as Harry screamed. There was some pain at the rough handling, but the exquisite pleasure of being filled again was like nirvana. Harry's cock was pressed against the shower wall and each time Severus thrust, Harry was thrust against the wall harder. Severus knew he was not going to last long, but he also knew he didn't want Harry to ever forget this so he held on.

Harry was in heaven with the rough treatment his lover gave him. He knew he was not going to last, but wanted to come to completion with Severus. Severus thrust into him hard and fast but just as Harry could hold out no longer, Harry's shout of "Sev" was followed by Severus' shout of "Harry" and the both of them slowly slid down to the shower floor, the hot water washing over them in a wonderful rhythm against their flushed skin.

Harry had passed out for a few seconds and he was sure Severus had done the same. When they came to, they finished showering and wrapped themselves in the fluffy dark blue towels that were on the shelf and walked back into the bedroom. There on the bed were their clean clothes and the room had been straightened and the bed made, their dirty clothes were already taken, to the laundry they presumed. Harry, who had never had this level of service, was astonished and asked Severus if this was normal. Severus muttered a comment about them becoming pompous arses like the Malfoys and got dressed. Harry smiled and also dressed before following Severus through the door to the office.

They continued to look at the information that Becca had put together and looked at some of her notes about what she wanted to do. Harry found a book of children's stories that he found very interesting titled Papa Merlin's Fairy tales for the Young and Old and there was another book titled, So You Want to be a Death Eater? "Look Sev", Harry brought the book to Severus, "Who do you think Tempus Spiritus is? This book is all about Voldemort and the author is Tempus Spiritus. I have never seen this before." As Harry flipped through it he saw all the information that had been collected on Voldemort as well as observations of what a pure blood was and how the Dark Lord was really evil and why would anyone really want to follow him and let him steal their magic.

There was a whole chapter on the old blood lines and how their family magic was settled into the very property they allowed that man to enter. Letting him destroy and steal what was their birthright. How he deceived them into giving their power away without knowing it and how the dark mark was actually a slave brand. How he hated the pure bloods and wanted revenge for his mother's family in not acknowledging him.

"Severus, you really need to read this. It is very insightful and makes real sense of Voldemort and his Death Eaters." Severus took the book from Harry and looked at it.

"Where did you get this Harry?" Severus asked as he flipped through the book briefly. "This must be something Becca came across or maybe wrote herself. It does have a lot of information about wards, pureblood spells and Voldemort. Do we know of anyone else that would author a book under the name of Time Spirit?" Severus smiled. "You know, Harry, if this book were to make it out of this room, it would create quite a fuss." Severus gave quiet laugh thinking about Voldemort having a fit trying to figure out who would write such a book and where they got their information from.

"Sev, here is another book, one of children's stories by the same author. Wonder what this would do if the children were raised on these stories instead of the stories they have now; stories that made every one equal and taught that everyone had a contribution to give to others."

"It would seem that our Miss Becca has been a very busy girl. I wonder what else she has written, and if she ever intends to publish it."

"Do you really think Becca wrote these stories? It could have been someone else."

"No Harry, I really think this has Becca written all over it, if you will excuse the pun."

"Let's see what else we can find Sev."

Harry went over to another desk and looked around. Sitting on the desk was a journal and a parchment letter to Harry and Severus.

Dear Severus and Harry,

I hope you are reading this because I showed you where the room was so you could just look for information on your own. If, for some reason, I didn't make it back with you, I want you to know I have devoted my whole life to the information in this room. Here you will find my successes and my failures and everything in-between.

It is imperative that contingencies are made to keep little Harry safe. It is the most important thing that we can do. If something happens, Gorbink and Shashi are my second in command to follow through with raising the baby if something happens to you two. I hope nothing will, but we have to have failsafe plans in place.

Prince Conglomerate is a bundle of businesses we have put together. Some of the businesses have been in place since Gorbink and Shashi were sent back fifty years ago. Some are more new as our arrival was anticipated.

We have peace contracts with most of the dark and light creatures. Prince Conglomerate has always been about helping others. We have contracts and help provide businesses and help to all the creatures the wizards try to control or put down. You need to speak with Gorbink about our Gringotts branch that services only other beings as they cannot by law do business with wizards.

You should already know about some of the alliances we have but to recap, we have friends as vampires, dark elves, light elves, wood nymphs, acromantula, centaurs, unicorns, thestrals, dragons, and we are working on werewolves but we wanted to wait till Remus could help.

Attached is my journal with all the plans. Please read and ask questions. If I am no longer available, Gorbink, Shashi and Doc know all. They were my great grandfathers' most trusted friends.

Becca

"Wow, Severus, you have to read this. It says most of our answers can be found in the journal." He handed Severus the letter and watched as he read it.

"Harry, do you know what this means? Have you really read this?" Severus wasn't sure Harry got the full impact of the letter.

"Yeah, I read it. It says she wasn't sure she would make it and Gorbink and Shashi and Doc know what to do." Harry replied with a puzzled expression on his face, wondering why Severus asked him that question.

"No Harry, that's not all it means. That young woman has sent the means to ally herself with an army of light and dark creatures to protect the younger you. She has created her own army to keep younger Harry safe." The awe in Severus' voice was evident with every word he spoke. The level of planning alone, would rival anything Malfoy Senior could do.

Harry wanted to think about this later when they had more time so he asked Severus, "Have you found any information on Prince Conglomerate or what it is that we are to do until the other Harry arrives? Who does Prince Conglomerate belong to? We also need to meet with Gorbink and talk about our vaults."

"As soon as we talk to Gorbink, why don't we take a trip to Diagon Alley or maybe to muggle London? We could go out to eat and see one of those muggle films you were talking about." He held out his arms and Harry snuggled up to him. "Everything will settle down soon, Harry. I promise." Harry snuggled closer to soak up the warmth and energy that Severus always provided. He was Harry's rock and support, and the young man didn't know what he would do without him.

About six hours later, Becca came knocking on the door, Harry and Severus were busy reading about the third time line. They had skipped the parts that repeated and were trying to get through the information as fast as possible. When Becca entered upon Severus' request and look at the two men as they stood in each other's arms she gave them a smile.

"Hey, you two, it is almost dinner time and I wanted to give you a tour of the manor before we had to eat. We only have about an hour and this place is pretty large."

They followed her out the door as she led them back through to the sitting area they were in earlier. Becca started with her description of the property. "This area is under number five Privet Drive. The area with the office is actually under the front yard of number five. If we go back to the area in which we arrived, you will find several doors. Each one of them open to a different address above the ground and each are three stories under the ground. The area you were in is a small part of the whole. Gorbink and Shashi were sent back fifty years to when this area was undeveloped. This allowed Gorbink to buy the land and have the goblins build this before the muggles started developing it. The houses in this block belong to Prince Industries. We own eight houses, three across from number four, one on each side and the three in the back. All the other were sold a quite a good profit. The only one that was sold at a slight loss to get Vernon and Petunia to buy it was number four. We needed to repeat as much history as possible so we could keep Dumbledore from changing things and hiding Harry somewhere else."

They were in the small ballroom size room and Becca went between two doors and hissed "_open_". Severus was startled to realize he actually understood what she said, before she opened the door to an elevator, placed her palm on a plate by the door and stated her full name. It seemed strange to Severus but when he looked at her she said, "Muggle electronic technology. Computer voice recognition software, no one can enter this area without it. As you may have noticed the floor in this room is made of the acromantula armor mixed with titanium which is the strongest muggle metal you can buy. The ceiling is actually made of the same material, but it was covered with something more eye appealing so you would not feel like you were surrounded by black. The elevator opens into the next level. There are more sleeping quarters, a main dining room as well as a swimming room and area to fly in. I wanted Harry to be trained in everything possible."

As the elevator opened to the next level they encountered a spacious receiving area that lead off in different directions just as the one below it, the only difference was that this area was smaller Then Becca started talking again.

"This area is more recreational." She moved across the room to a door marked pool. "The pool is through here and there are other areas for play and also a gym with all the latest equipment. Some of the adults may want to train. This way is a training room for DADA or can be used for karate or other martial arts fighting. The weapons room is that way and has many of the weapons that were in the vaults that belonged to both of you. You may want to look through them and decide what you want to keep here and what you may want to move and store elsewhere." Harry and Severus looked at the pool and were awed. It was half the size of an Olympic size pool and perfect for swim training. The area was huge and Harry wondered how many houses this place was under. Becca brought them up another elevator.

"We have not seen everything, but I wanted to give you an idea of what we were doing. Each floor has its own time displacement room so that you may train as long as you want. The level closest to the outside is for classrooms and what we call filtering. It is where we would receive non residents and anyone that wants the dark mark removed, really anyone that has not proven themselves to us. As you can see each room has a mini floo and you can call any other room once you know where they are located, for example number five Privet third level kitchen." Becca had stated after she threw in a small amount of floo powder, then spoke to an elf to confirm dinner was ready.

"Well, gentlemen, shall we go for dinner?"


	26. A Business Strategy

Chapter 26: A Business Strategy

That evening during dinner, Severus and Harry asked Becca the questions burning in their brain just waiting for answers.

"So, how many houses is this manor under? This is an underground manor, right?" Harry wanted to know.

Becca nodded yes and then answered his questions. "Fifteen houses and two streets, five houses across including number four which is in the middle. The five houses across the street from number four and then five houses behind and the street Wisteria Walk. As you know Harry, that street runs parallel to Privet Drive. This was so we could be reasonably sure that if the builders of this subdivision were off from our original schematics, we would have it covered. We didn't want this place to be under the wrong houses, although we would have made adjustments if that had happened."

"You also need to know Tthe house of number four is wired and we also have a surveillance room that has twenty four hour security watching them. I am taking no chances that they might see little Harry at a playground or try to kidnap him for some reason. Vernon is actually a very angry, violent and bitter man and he will slip up sooner or later. He was a known pedophile in another time line, but only one other that I know of. I really believe, Harry, that the only reason he didn't try to sexually abuse you was Dumbledore's brand on your thigh. As crazy as it sounds, he protected you from that if only for his own devious plans. Another reason for the surveillance is to monitor Dumbledore's actions; we have to know if he comes to visit to see Harry so we can make contingencies on his plans. We do not need that meddling old fool to come here." Harry nodded; he had already thought about that.

Severus suddenly realized that there was a question he should have asked long ago. "If there was a slave brand and sexual protection spells on Harry, how were we able to consummate our bond? I would have thought the spells would have kept us from being able to do that."

"I can only assume the spells Dumbledore used are from a the Voodoo ritual, not the wizard magic that we use. Because Harry is a wizard, his magic is prevalent and would cancel the spells in the place of a soulmate bond. The other magic cannot sever that bond." Becca replied.

The older man then did some quick calculations in his head, then turned to Becca and asked. "And this place, are you telling us that this facility is over fourteen hundred square meters?" As he was speaking, his voice rose in disbelief at the prospect of the mass amount of space they were living in.

Becca shook her head in the negative and said "One level is approximately that size but the majority of this facility is three levels except the pool and flying room, those are two levels high each for the air space. There are also classrooms besides the training rooms; we also have a mini theatre and vault room and two potions labs as well. Each level is secured by muggle computer technology, security cameras and runes with magical warding spells. Every level also has its own security pass, so if you get through one level you have to know how to get around the computers and wards on the second level. From the third level down, there are three doors, in the reception room where we arrived, that go to the tunnels that have muggle golf carts. Each tunnel runs to a muggle facility. of some kind. One is a bus station, one to a subway and the other comes out near a shopping mall. In order to find us and get to us you would have to get through the wards on the houses above ground, get through the first level of this place, get through the second level, then get through the third and cover all three escape routes, and believe me when I say no blasting curse is getting through the floor or ceiling, that stuff is near impenetrable. We will reprogram the computers tomorrow, I imagine you will want to get out of here and take a look around to see what we have done. Gorbink will be here in the morning and go over your financial portfolio then we can discuss some business plans or put that off for another couple of days. It is up to you."

"Why this level of security?" Severus wanted to know. "It seems as if you are planning for the end of the world. N, not that I am not grateful, but no one needs this much security."

"This manor is not just where we live, it is a safe house for those that have pledged their allegiance to us and may come to harm where they are. We actually own four more of these on a smaller scale. There are underground facilities under the medical center, publishing house, fashion house and pharmaceutical house all located in muggle areas. You have to remember, we are in a war already."

Severus and Harry were starting to feel lost again. It was just too much.

"What do you have planned after thatfor now? I haven't even finished my education and I don't know much about business." Harry reminded Becca.

"You train Harry; you train here with the others. Gorbink will teach you finance and business strategy while we finish building Prince Conglomerate. Severus can teach you potions and DADA or if you wish you both may learn from Shashi. He is a light elf and I think you only met him briefly when he was leaving. He lives in one of the houses on Wisteria Walk, using glamour of course but he is happy. Says he likes seeing the muggle way of things." She said with a smirk in remembrance of a conversation she had with him. "Of course, we cannot use magic in the above ground residences. At least not wizard magic, it is detectable and would seem strange for too much to be used around little Harry Potter. Under the ground, however, we can use all the magic we want as they cannot detect that. So Harry, you can train as much as you want in any of the training rooms and not be detected by the ministry or anyone else. The wards are not set yet above the ground, we have to do that after that old coot leaves infant Harry on the doorstep. Then after he sets his wards we will reset them using our blood instead of Petunia's. They will work better that way and believe me, I don't think even Dumbledore will be able to get through them when we are finished."

Becca started yawning and Harry and Severus encouraged her to go to bed for the night. They wanted to go through some more of the information in the office and had slept earlier so they were not as tired as the young woman.

When they returned to the war room, it was almost midnight of the first day they arrived. This would take some time getting used to. Harry looked at Severus and asked. "Do you know when our appointment is with Gorbink?"

"No" Severus answered, "but I think we can spend eight days in the war room area if you think you can stand it, we would be finished about eight in the morning here. Then we can have all our questions for Gorbink and make a trip to Diagon Alley. What do you think?"

"Sounds good to me, love,," Replied the younger man, "I suppose that someone could make it worth my while." He said seductively with a grin. "We should be well versed in what is going on. I will definitely be ready to get out of here by then."

"Let's see if we can get an elf to bring us some tea." Severus smiled at his mate. He was really being a good sport about all of this. He knew Harry was more of an outdoor person and not used to staying indoors all the time.

"_First Born_!" Harry called hissed before they went back. The snake slithered up to him and bowed his head. "_Would you like to join us in the war room?"_

then tThe snake answeredhissed back,_ "Yes, master, we would like to spend some time with you." _So The Seven followed Harry and Severus into the war room to look around, and spend time, with their masters.

They obtained their tea from an elf named Cook Caddy. It seemed all the elves had titles or job descriptions before their names, at least the few they had come into contact with did, and then the two adults entered the war room again with seven snakes.

Third Born, who was slithering around the top of the bookcases, found a journal for Prince Conglomerate. It was a business plan for several different companies and it was full of the type of information that Harry and Severus were looking for. It was also in parsletongue. Becca took no chances it seemed.

Third Born hissed "_Master! I have found something_" She then knocked the journal off the shelf but a few loose papers fell out. Severus picked up the journal while Harry picked up the loose papers.

"Severus these are business contracts but they are with the acromantulas, the centaurs and the unicorns. I didn't know they would even enter into contracts with wizards. Aragog tried to eat me in second year. Said he would not deny fresh meat to his children 'when it wonders so willingly into our midst' **as I recall. That was scary, they would have gotten us too, if it were not for the flying car that had gone wild in the forest and came to save us."

"_Very good Third Born, you have done well in finding this book_." Harry addressed the snake still on top of the bookshelf.

"Harry, this book is in parsletongue." When Harry made a move to take the book to translate, Severus stepped back. "No, you don't understand what I am trying to tell you Harry, **I can read this book** but it is in parsletongue. Wasn't that the gift that Salazar gave us? Are some of the other gifts starting to manifest?" Severus gave a searching look to Harry, "Do you feel any different?"

"Just more in love with you everyday," Harry smirked back. It was so rewarding to have his mate be able to share his gift and to not be the only one that could understand the snake language. He left the book to his mate to translate and started roaming around other parts of the room. He came across the book about Voldemort again and started reading. Severus had already read most of the book and made a few comments on the sidelines side space so the book could be edited. He loved some of the passages in the book though, some made fun of Voldemort outright, and some made you really think about what the war was really about. He started to read a few passages that really caught his eye.

…So this Tom Riddle, who was raised in a muggle orphanage, has decided that pureblood supremacy is for the betterment of the world, but what does he know about it?. How does he come by this decision? Yes he went to Hogwarts, and yes he might be the heir of Slytherin, at least he claims to be, but with what proof? Why would anyone take his word for it? He is tricky and he uses his skills well, the skills of coercion, duplicity, and a charm that would make a dead man rise up to follow him. So is this the pureblood way or is it just the way of a con man as the muggles would say? A man who has too so much confidence in himself so everyone follows because he seems to know what he is doing and can convince others that this is the way for them to benefit?

Harry could almost see how the purebloods were convinced to join him. So he read on.

…So this man, this Tom Marvolo Riddle aka Lord Voldemort, convinces you that a mark is imperative to show unity in his cause. He does not tell you the mark is essentially a slave brand put to another use and that he now has access to your magic. He siphons your magic off little by little growing in power while promising you that you too can be as powerful as he. The truth is you most likely already are if you stop giving him your power. Your ancestral home contains your family's residual magic. When each family member dies, their magic goes into the manor of the family, strengthening the protection wards and keeping the family line safe. So this Tom Marvolo Riddle then he asks for your property or to move into your home as your guest in support of the cause. In actual fact this man has no special magic; his specialty is thievery and deception.

Harry laughed when he read this, he hoped this book could be published but he knew both Voldemort and the Ministry of Magic would block its publication.

…The next thing you must understand is the nature of a slave bond, in this case, when the master dies **so does the slave**. Tom Riddle doesn't tell you this and you don't know what spell is being used because he speaks in a language you do not understand, but I ask you now, would you do business and sign a contract without knowing the language it was written in? The mark can be removed, but another parslemouth would need to do it if Tom Riddle won't, and we all know he will not give up his slaves.

...Pureblood families follow this man because they were targeted by this "con man" and told the others are no good, but I have to ask, if you destroy everyone else, whom will you rule over? Is not the king that takes care of his people more revered that the king that is most feared for his cruelty? Where do your loyalties lie? Do they lie in yourselves, your families, and your world or in Tom Riddle that punishes you for every assumed misdeed that he creates? What is the pureblood way? To destroy and steal from others? To raise your children to do the same? To enslave people as property or to build your businesses, your economy and your world? If you enslave every muggle and half blood, who will buy from your businesses? These slaves only become dependent on you and take away from your resources not add to them.…

Harry could not believe Becca actually put this in writing. If this book was ever found, it would cause an awful lot of terror with the purebloods. She was stating most assuredly that all the Death Eaters would die.

After a few hours of reading, Severus came over to him to show him what he had been studying.

"Harry, Prince Conglomerate is an company started in another timeline. Becca has used the proven methods used in the former timeline to create the wealth here so that it can fund several charities that can help our world. Love, Prince Conglomerate was started and run by our counterparts. You and I are Prince Conglomerate. This is how Becca knew how to do some of the things she has already done." Severus said, awestruck. "We, as in our counterparts, contracted with the acromantulas to give them fresh meat for an agreement to leave the centaurs alone and for the potions ingredients we could harvest safely from them. They evidently shed their shells every so often and have an abundance of unused stored shells that go to waste which is how this facility was built, with old acromantula shells. They also provide Prince Conglomerate with venom for its pharmaceutical division and silk for their clothing line. The centaurs provide hand carved gifts for the home decoration division and we provide them with warding and another underground facility similar to this one, on a much smaller scale, so they can safely hide their young as the war is prevalent and we also provide them with medical supplies."

"Well I can see how we could negotiate with the spiders. I know from experience you can't blast through their shells. I had to face one in the Triwizard Tournament. I could also explain all the silk sheets and other things around here." Harry pondered when Severus made a break in his dissertation about the company to get a sit of tea.

"They hired werewolves and Remus was in charge of that in the other time line. They travel abroad on mission trips, helping different victims of major natural disasters and find rare potion ingredients. The pharmaceutical division actually makes homeopathic medicines for muggles and there is another division that helps people to start their own businesses. Many of which provide products or services that Prince Conglomerate uses or delivers. The mini floo was a huge success in the other time, being all the rage with the elite and purebloods. I have to admit that they do serve a good purpose giving safety and keeping you off your knees to talk to someone."

"That's not all Harry. They also have a few hospitals, blood banks and other things. They have the Vampires protect the fairies and keep them from being captured and soldas a protection service for the price of blood from the blood banks. The fairies and pixies help groom and take care of the unicorns give us potion ingredients in exchange for protection and the unicorns give us, freely given, hair for protecting them from the spiders and for the fairies helping to keep the briars out of their mane. Every one works together."

"Harry, the level of cooperation in this is incomprehensible. All the magical creatures are taken care of by taking care of a need and getting something back to take care of another's need. There is even a Gringotts II, so that magical creatures can do business because, by law, they are not allowed in the wizard bank." Severus shook his head in wonderment and added. "There must be at least twenty different magical beings in this plan cooperating together to not only see to their needs but to protect you and the prophesied baby Harry. Most of these that are dark creatures are ones that before were underhad joined Voldemort's for the promises he made to them. rule in his own army Prince Conglomerate doesn't make promises; they actually do something about it."

Severus and Harry continued to discuss the dynamics of Prince Conglomerate and added to their list of questions for the meeting with Becca and Gorbink. A few hours later they went to bed and fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow. The Seven were intertwined in front of the fireplace also resting as their masters slept.

So it went for days, Harry and Severus going over the plans of Prince Conglomerate. They found out that originally the name was used because the name 'Snape' was associated with Death Eaters and the name Potter created such havoc with fans and the press that they avoided using that name too. The wizarding world had nearly forgotten about the Princes since the name had died out with Severus' mother. It was a logical conclusion and worked well now since they had the same problem here, on top of there being another Snape. They agreed that changing their name to Prince was for the best.

The next thing Harry found the last day they were staying in the war room area was a book of pranks aimed at the Dursleys. It was a list of things that could be done to drive them absolutely insane. Harry and Severus were laughing so hard their side hurt, when the description of the three dimensional image of the two lovers in the back yard. with a heavy snogging session every time Petunia looked through a hole Becca drilled into the wooden fence on purpose. The idea was that no matter when she looked through the hole she would see only the two snogging. There was some kind of recognition software implanted in the fence and she would be the only one to see the men kissing. There were other things like that as well. If she looked in the back yard of the other houses bordering her, she would find something similar. Hhomosexual activity in every neighbor's yard, oh she would be driven so mad. There were other things like having a piece of trash appear on her lawn every time after she picked it up. Harry could hardly wait and, for the first time, he began to feel good about living here.

There were a few other books written for Prince Publications that Harry and Severus read and edited a little to include some of the things that had happened in their time line. Then when the time came they left the war room and appeared with The Seven back into the sitting room of number five Privet Drive. They joined Becca for breakfast served by Cook Caddy again. At the last minute Gorbink came in to eat also, but did not discuss any business until breakfast was completed and they moved back into the war room. Severus and Harry were actually itching to get out of the place, but wanted to find out a few things before taking off for Diagon Alley.

Gorbink confirmed much of what Harry and Severus read and deduced from the information in the office. Gorbink had a charge card for each of the men and handed one to Becca also. He had wanted to know if they wanted to start up some of the business ideas that they had looked over and if they had considered what they wanted to do about the horcruxes in this time area. They decided the best thing was to leave them alone for now but to actively pursue them after Even was born. The men decided they were going to take the next two weeks off to enjoy the Christmas Holidays, something Harry had never been able to do and then start on the business things at the first of the year.

"What of the employees of Prince Building Contractors? Those beings are the ones that make the substance this floor building was built withis made from and they have been waiting to start doing the mini floos that were proposed. and we need the contract with the current acromantulas to continue, our supplies are running low We need to get started with that idea." Gorbink was worried about his people and Severus liked that he considered the others.

"Do we have enough galleons to pay them and give them the holiday off?" Severus asked. Gorbink nodded and said.

"Yes, plenty enough, we brought back several fortunes from the other timeline. Money is not the question, it is their future employment. They are worried that they will not have jobs soon."

"Please explain that Harry was nearly killed only a week ago and we have need of a rest, .but we will be negotiating with the spiders soon and will enlist Hagrids help if we cannot get them to agree. I feel sure that this will work out. They in the meantime will be paid through the end of the year and given a month's wages as a Christmas Bonus. This should assure them that their jobs will be in tact. We will contact the Daily Prophet and tell them of the mini floo to generate interest and possibly get some orders even before they come back from the holiday vacation." He turned to Harry and asked "Do you agree love?"

Harry nodded and turned to Gorbink. "Is there any reason we should avoid the bank or Diagon Alley? Severus and I want to get out of here. Also will these cards work at muggle stores?" Harry had noticed the logo of a well known muggle credit card company on the lower right corner of the cards.

Gorbink said "Yes they will, and here are your statements showing what you own in the vaults at Gringotts. Also there is one vault here in this facility that has galleons in it if you want to take some cash with you. You need to use a little glamour but you should be alright. The Death Eaters are active but not much."

Gorbink bowed to the other three and left the room. A minute later they heard an elevator going up to the surface.

** This is a direct quote from The Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling


	27. A Shopping We Will Go

Posted October 2, 2009

Chapter 27: A Shopping We Will Go

They worked on the glamour for about fifteen minutes then Becca took them to the elevator, showed them the surveillance room and they were in wonderment at the amount of muggle technology. There was also a series of mirrors much the same as they saw at Hogwarts. They made their way above ground into the living room of number five Privet Drive and saw that it was comfortably furnished but was somewhat with an unlived in feel. Becca explained that it had been used as a model house so as to throw suspicion off because people were not living there and they didn't want the neighbor's to suspect anything. As they went outside, Harry came face to face with number four Privet Drive and a young woman that was carrying a small infant. Harry suddenly remembered that Dudley was a year older that he was.

Becca whispered to Harry, "If we wanted her to go apocalyptic, now would be a perfect time for you to snog Severus for all you're worth." There was definite amusement in her voice and Harry could just imagine how Petunia would react.

"Yeah, it's almost too good to resist, but we can't do that yet. It's going to be hard to wait for the right time." Harry whispered back, putting his arm around her and waving to his hand at his new neighbor. "Let's go introduce ourselves."

Severus could not believe his ears, Harry's Gryffindor courage must be working overtime for him to pull a stunt like this. He watch as Harry went over to Petunia Dursley and introduced Becca and himself.

"Good afternoon, neighbor, we are just moving into the house next door. My name is Harry Prince and this is Rebecca Prince. We are pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Good afternoon Harry, my name is Petunia Dursley and this is my son Dudley." Harry forced himself to pay attention as she emphasized the name Dursley as if it was of great importance and then listened as she continued. "My husband is at work, he runs Grunnings Drills so I am able to stay at home with my wonderful Dudleypoo. What do you two do?" The way she said 'wonderful Dudleypoo' was as if she was the baby instead of the child in her arms. How can people stand that baby talk?

Harry who wanted to have a little fun with her and answered "Oh a little of this and a little of that. We do some production, manufacturing and distribution of pharmacology products. It pays really well and we don't really need to work too much." Harry held his snicker in as Petunia's eyes grew big and she hastily told them she had to go, then quickly went inside the door of number four. He could just imagine her putting her precious Dudleypoo into the crib and calling her precious Vernon before calling some of the neighbors to tell them about the people that were moving in next door.

Harry looked at Severus and said, "We have to get out of here, I can't hold a straight face much longer. As they got into the automobile in the driveway, Becca got behind the wheel and started the car. Harry burst out laughing so hard he almost went into hysterics. Severus didn't get the joke so he looked to Becca for an explanation. She too was laughing, but not as hard as Harry. They obviously knew something Severus didn't.

Becca was still chuckling as she tried to answer Severus. "He **implied,** very strongly I might add, that we were drug dealers. Oh and her face, did you see the wide eyed look and she couldn't get away from us fast enough?" Becca was now laughing harder at the memory. "She will be on the phone telling all the neighbors about us. Only problem is, all her neighbors are our people or at least know of us in some way." Becca was holding her side now and trying to catch her breath. Poor Severus still did not get it. Becca tried again. "She thinks we are making and selling illegal drugs, Severus. Harry implied that we manufacture and distribute illegal drugs that are used by muggles. He implied that we are criminals."

Severus had a snarl on his face. "I understand that, I did live my childhood in the muggle world. What I fail to understand is why this is so funny."

"Because she hates anything abnormal, drug dealers are right at the top of the list with wizards. Her face showed so much horror. It was funny." Harry interjected while still holding his stomach and laughing between words.

"If you say so." He answered. "Can we go to London now?"

After Becca had calmed down she tried again to explain, Harry was still laughing in the back seat. "Severus, she is afraid of Harry. He has lived all his life in fear of those people and now as an adult he can face them and know that they will never hurt him again. He had a real fear of facing them again, when he found out where we actually were living, and it was all for nothing. She was terrified of us." Severus nodded his understanding. He knew Harry really had been afraid to meet those people again, but they didn't know him or who he was and part of the hysterical laughter must be the relief that he could do this with no worries about them coming after him.

Becca started the car with a big smile still on her face and drove to London.

As they got out of the car, Harry could not help but notice how different Severus looked in his blue jeans and his cream colored shirt. A heavy dark green coat and gloves with matching hat completed the outfit as it was December and very cold. In fact Harry was thinking about just what he wanted to do to Severus when Becca slapped his arm and shouted "Harry!" She had been trying to get his attention for the last minute while he was off in his head thinking about something he was sure she didn't want to know. "We need to focus here." She fussed.

Becca had parked the car a few blocks from Diagon Alley in the muggle part of London. When they walked into the Leaky Caldron and Becca stepped up to Tom. "Hi, are you Tom?" Becca said with a sweet smile on here face.

At Tom's nod and "What can I do for you?" Becca answered.

"We are visiting from the U.S. and a friend of mine told me you could get me into Diagon Alley. I've never been there." Becca was using her best American accent. She could do a really good French or German one too, but Tom would probably not understand those languages.

"Sure can young lady, are these gentlemen with you?" Tom indicated his head in the direction of Severus and Harry. Harry wasn't paying attention though, he was just trying to get used to the idea that no one knew him. It felt so good to be anonymous.

"Yes sir, we are all visiting from the United States and would like to go shopping."

Tom looked at the three of them as if trying to figure out if they were up to something. Becca thought maybe he was wondering if they were new Death Eaters or maybe muggles that were trying to get in. She shoved her cape back and started to roll up her sleeves and saw that Severus caught on real fast but Harry seemed to be oblivious, looking around with a smirk on his face.

Sure enough, Tom looked at their clear left arms and smiled as he told them to follow him out to the alley. He then proceeded to show them which bricks to hit with their wand and let them go through the passageway after bidding them good day.

Afterward Severus looked at Becca and asked, "Now what was the purpose of that?"

"Well," she answered, "don't you think it would look odd if three strangers, no one has ever seen, just walked in the Alley and didn't ask?"

Severus had to admit she had a point and they proceeded into the shopping alley.

Becca was excited; she had not been shopping in a long time. Even from her time it was dangerous and she had to be extra careful. Not that this was any different, but it was nice that people didn't know who they were.

Madam Malkin's was the first stop. Harry had asked Becca where the clothes came from that he had been wearing, right now he was sporting straight leg blue jeans and a green acromantula silk shirt. She told him that he had some donations from Salazar's closet and a few things her Great Granddad sent. None of them wore robes today as it was more casual in the wizarding world in the U.S. and they were supposed to be tourists. That was Becca's idea. They were not established and the stranger they appeared the more people would look and then ignore them as inconsequential. Harry thought this was the greatest thing. Becca wanted some maternity robes and a few things for when she got bigger and shopping would be uncomfortable. Severus got some new clothes and Harry insisted on anything but black, pointing out that there was another Severus Snape here and he needed to be different.

They had a really good time going from shop to shop. Harry bought a few Christmas gifts for the others but couldn't really think of anything to give Severus. He would have to think about it and come back; they still had almost two weeks before Christmas for him to think of something. He stopped outside the Quidditch store and saw the latest Cleansweep in the window and realized he had the fastest broom in the world right now. So he turned around and didn't even go in. There was nothing there that he would want anyway.

They did stop at the toy store and Harry bought a few stuffed animals and started to buy a toy broom when his lover stopped him. They didn't want to get too much right now and could go shopping for the boys later. Severus bought a mobile that would go over the crib. It had little snitches and brooms on it. Harry was surprised he didn't buy one with little caldrons on it till he realized they didn't have any.

Becca was having the most fun. She acted like she had never seen Diagon Alley before. Harry noticed her little girl look of wonder and asked her about it.

"So is this much different from the Diagon Alley from your time?" Harry raised his eyebrow at her. "You seem enchanted as if you've never been here before."

"Harry, in my time Diagon Alley is a wasteland and isn't really there. It was destroyed about ten years before my birth." Becca said it so matter of fact that Harry had a hard time wrapping his mind around it. He hadn't realized it was so bad in the future. He knew she had made statements about the future being bleak, but this was the first time it really hit him.

"Well, we are here now and can change all of that." He replied, smiling at her as he took her arm to go look at a few more shops, Severus following a few steps behind.

They were just finishing up their day and started walking back to the Leaky when a curse whizzed by Severus' head. Then another one hit Becca from behind but as it made contact with her cloak it slid right off, like water off a duck's back. Harry and Severus quickly got together holding Becca in the middle with one arm each around her waist and put up a shield, both of them combining their magic to form a strong shield for protection against the attackers, just as they had done in the chamber for the reparo charm.

"Protego!" They both shouted at the same time. To their surprise the shield actually shimmered visibly in a dense bluish green color with flecks of gold, silver, red and purple sparkling in the sunlight. It surrounded them with color. They caught the incredulous look on a young Lucius Malfoy's face when the shield went up. Naturally no one had ever seen one like that before not even the three of them. More stunners and hexes were shot at them, but they actually bounced back to the caster stunning two of the death eaters before they knew what was happening. Becca pulled out a portkey just as the aurors showed up and they were whisked away back to Privet Drive. The one thing they were glad to see is that Malfoy hadn't shot one stunner, curse or hex at them.

"What was that?" Harry wanted to know as he fell forward from the landing. Severus grabbed his shirt just before he made contact with the floor.

"It was a recruiting party. Sometimes the Death Eaters would get desperate and go stun and kidnap people to get them on the Dark Lord's side. They would hold their family hostage or just the threat would be enough. I imagine we presented a pretty picture of a family united and they thought they could 'convince' us to join." Severus had used his hands to put quotation marks around the word convince. They all knew what he meant. Maybe it was time to put forward their plan and not wait till after the holidays.

"Did you see Lucius Malfoy's face, Sev?" Harry asked. "He looked like he couldn't believe what he saw. Do you think he recognized you as an older Severus?"

"No Harry I don't, not through the glamour. I think he recognized the shield we created." Harry and Becca both looked puzzled so he elaborated. "It is said that when a family is pure and combines its magic for protection, the shield will glow with unlimited power. I have never seen it before and I doubt Lucius has either, but he knows about it. He is attracted to power, it's the reason he joined Voldemort in the first place. I hope you wanted his attention, because you certainly got it." Severus directed the last part of his statement to Becca where she was sitting on the sofa. "It is also said that only the decedents of Merlin can produce a shield of color, all the others would be a clear white or opaque not the green with flecks of color that you saw and most shields don't last that long without recasting them. Of course it is only myth, but Lucius would pay attention to that. Many things in our world are considered myth."

"I didn't want his attention so soon," Becca complained in an almost fake whiney tone. "We are not ready yet. I did want his attention later." She changed the tone of her voice back to a normal calm one. "If my information is correct he has twin girls born ten months before Draco. The girls were squibs or appeared to be. I believe that when Voldemort found out they were girls, he drained too much power from Narcissa and caused them to be powerless. Identical twins are known to have great power. I was hoping Doc could help them with the sound wave therapy. But the clinic is not set up yet and some of the healers will not be back till the first of the year. I was going to finish the edits you made to the book about Voldemort and send one to Lord Malfoy with a way to contact us. His is one of the pureblood lines that die out first. Voldemort was not really very nice to him and his family. "

"How did you find out about Lucius' twin girls? That is a carefully guarded secret and I only found out by accident…" Severus' sentence trailed off as he realized what he had said. "Ah, I understand, my counterpart also found out didn't he? Lucius hid the girls in the muggle world to keep them safe. I take it he didn't succeed."

"No one succeeded Severus, that's why I'm here." Becca said a little snappishly. "Our world was on its way to being destroyed between the two, Voldemort and the old coot as you call him." Becca's attention was drawn to Harry as he moved into Severus' arms. "I am tired, seems as if I need more sleep these days, I will see you two later for dinner." She turned to leave the room, but turned back to them and said, "Tomorrow we will have to go get the car." Then she sighed and walked down the hall to her bedroom.

"You know Harry; I think we need to pay more attention to Becca. She is carrying our child and is putting out an enormous amount of energy in getting all this set up." Severus began to rub Harry's back as he held him.

"I agree. We also need to take a more active interest in Prince Conglomerate and get the other things going that have been put off till our arrival. It seems there are an awful lot of people counting on us. That way we can take some of the pressure off of Becca."

"Yes, but don't forget we have managers that can do a lot of the work and who know more about it."

"I want to contact Remus and give him the werewolf's cure. Every month he goes through the change and it takes its toll on his health. We have the means to help him. I would consider it a very special Christmas present. It would not even have to be me to get in touch. Maybe we could use the name Prince Pharmaceuticals and tell him it is a test cure and then give him a job." Harry was really talking out loud at this point and forgot Severus was holding him. "I just want to do something to help; it would be a really big thing for him."

Severus placed his hand under Harry's chin and lifted his face for a kiss, to give the younger man some reassurance and comfort. He knew Harry hated leaving his Remus in the other timeline, he felt he had deserted him somehow and wanted to make up for it. He decided that he would help Harry get through this and it was clear from today's events that they would not be able to be completely at ease through the holidays. They needed to start planning now.

Severus called Kreacher and when he popped in he noticed that the little elf was not as smartly dressed or as happy as he had been recently. Not that he was usually **exuberantly** happy, but now he looked depressed. The elf bowed low and asked Severus what he could do for him. Severus explained that he and Harry had not slept in their quarters before and didn't know where their bedroom was. They wanted to take a nap before dinner.

"Right this way, sir. Kreacher will show you." Harry and Severus followed the little elf to their quarters. They had a sitting room, bed room and bathroom all to themselves. Severus thanked the elf and turned to go into the bedroom when he turned around. "Kreacher, is there something wrong? You seem to be preoccupied today."

"Master Severus, Kreacher just elf, cannot say what is wrong."

"Kreacher, I am asking what is wrong and I want you to tell me." Severus demanded.

"Master Severus sir, Kreacher be knowing that in two days Master Regulus will be dying in the cave. It was a bad death, very bad."

"Thank you Kreacher, I will see what we can do to help."

"Thank you, sir." Kreacher bowed and was thinking he didn't have much hope of these people saving his former master. They were not Death Eaters and would not support Regulus as he was a Death Eater. But they had helped many people and he knew from hearing conversations here and there that they had some power that no one else knew about or had access to.

With that, the elf popped out the room, but was looking a little happier than when he came in. Severus walked into the bedroom and there was Harry asleep on the bed completely clothed with his shoes still on his feet. He looked so peaceful but Severus could see the dark circles under his eyes indicating his exhaustion. He carefully pulled off his trainers, transfigured their clothes to pajamas and crawled into bed, curled around him and went to sleep holding him tight to his side.

They all slept through the night, completely skipping dinner in their exhaustion.


	28. On A Mission Or Two

Chapter 28: On a Mission or Two

At breakfast, after another session of sexual calisthenics, Severus and Harry were discussing the previous day's activities. There were a few questions they had about the attack, and they wanted to ask Becca about some of the details. Everything happened so fast that they weren't even sure who cast the shield. Of course they remembered casting the Protego, but they didn't know if Becca cast a different shield. They both turned to the doorway as Becca shuffled in, bleary eyed, holding a small plate of half eaten biscuit. They smiled at her and Harry greeted her.

"Good morning, sleepy eyes. How are you feeling today?" He smirked at her glare as she sat down heavily into the chair and muttered.

"Humph."

Severus wasn't amused however; he looked at her searchingly and asked, "How are you after yesterday's attack? They didn't hit you with anything, did they?"

"I think they did," Becca replied to the older man, "but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. Nothing can penetrate my cloak, not even a severing charm." Becca really didn't want to talk about it. She had a nasty bout of morning sickness earlier and was just able to get up and move around after Kreacher brought her some tea and plain biscuits.

Severus was remembering the cloak she had on yesterday. It was a beautiful shimmery royal blue color that reached just a few inches from the ground. He hadn't really paid much attention to it other than to think it suited her.

"What makes the cloak so impenetrable? I didn't notice it had protection charms on it." Harry asked a little puzzled.

"Do you remember, in the chamber, my telling you about a cloak I had? We were picking up the basilisk skins that had been shed. I told you that we could make clothing and footwear out of them?"

Harry nodded, remembering the conversation and his comment about wasting potions ingredients on clothing.

"My hat, boots and gloves were also made of the same material. So were your coats." Becca informed them grumpily.

Severus could see that the young woman was not in the mood for a lengthy discussion so he cut the conversation short by saying, "Then we have you to thank for helping to protect us. I never realized you could make clothing with the skins like that. I didn't know that was why you were collecting all those sheddings."

"I wasn't the one who invented the idea. It was Harry and Madam Malkin's future niece and long before I was born. But you are quite welcome for the protection." Becca tried to sound gracious but it wasn't coming across very well.

Severus stood up and came over to the side of Becca's chair. He stooped so he could look her eye to eye as she was sitting down and said, "You don't seem to be all that well this morning, maybe you should have a good lie in. We can handle anything that may come up and will call you if we need you."

"Yeah, I was kind of sick this morning. I think I will go do that. Could you have Cook Caddy bring me some more chamomile tea?"

"I think we can manage that." Severus replied as he took her hand and helped her out of the chair. He watched as she shuffled off back to her bedroom, then he turned to Harry.

"I think I should call Doc and see if he has some time to come and check on her."

Harry, who had been worriedly watching this whole scene, nodded his agreement and went to the kitchens to talk to the cook elf while Severus used the mini floo to call Doc.

Later that afternoon Becca had been declared healthy, and was told that she had suffered no ill effects from yesterday's excursion. So now they were strategizing while at the pool side relaxing; it was much better than the war room.

Since no one would know Hedwig they decided that she would be the best owl to send a message to Remus. They were taking a chance and sending a portkey so that he could arrive in the first level reception area to what Becca called the filtering room. They still had to take precautions and could not risk anyone coming along for the ride or someone coming in his place if his mail was intercepted. It wasn't like this Remus knew how to decipher a coded message from Harry in this time.

With Regulus, that was a different story, in this case they had to make a personal appearance. Harry was sitting, listening to Becca and Severus argue about who was going to the cave and what could be done. He had his feet in the water and was lying on the floor leaning back on his elbows with his head back and his eyes closed. He could get used to this; it was so relaxing with the artificial sun beating down on his body. The pool was surrounded by three walls with murals of different beach scenes and the palm trees were swaying in the breeze. It gave you the feeling of being right on the beach except the water was heated to just the right temperature, there was no sand to get in places you didn't want it to, and you didn't have to worry about stepping on the water wildlife or seashells. Harry lazily interrupted their heated discussion and said, "Too bad we can't imperio one of the inferi and make **them** drink it."

Severus and Becca quit arguing and jerked their heads in the direction of Harry, who was still lounging on the floor with his legs dangling in the water. "What did you say, Harry?" Severus asked.

"I said it's too bad we can't just imperio one of the inferi in the water and make them drink what ever concoction that idiot put into the bowl." He repeated lazily.

"Harry, how do you know there are inferi in the water?" Severus hadn't even considered that inferi were what attacked Kreacher and Regulus. Kreacher had only said they were attacked but he didn't know by whom.

"It's in the second timeline information. I, or one of the other Harrys, was horcrux hunting and when he and Dumbledore found the cave they tried to obtain the locket that was turned into a horcrux. Regulus had already been there and was killed years earlier before I was born but they didn't know that. Dumbledore drank the potion and Harry took the locket. They were attacked by inferi from the water in the lake surrounding a small island in the middle of the cave. Dumbledore used a fire out of his wand to beat them back and they got in the boat and left."

"Harry?" Severus was saying.

"Yeah?" Harry didn't move from his position.

"That's a great idea. It is possible to imperio an inferi. We just need enough power to override Voldemort's spells."

Becca interrupted the two men. "You **can **override Voldemort's spells. The parsletongue is a magic all its own and all you have to do is speak what you want in parsletongue. That's why those that speak it are presumed to have so much power. It's more of a mind magic and not a spell dependent on wand movement. Voldemort was actually very simplistic in his parsletongue magic; he didn't think anyone else could speak it so he never made it complicated. We can work on some today if you wish, but as Harry is more familiar with it, I suggest both of you go. Together you can create enough power to undo anything Voldemort came up with and get Regulus out of there, but know this;" Becca admonished, "it will be dangerous no matter what precautions you take."

Severus thought about this for a minute and called, "Kreacher!" The little elf popped into the room, bowing and answering with his solemn "Yes, Master Severus?"

"Can you get us into that cave or is it warded against intrusions."

"Sir?"

"The cave where Regulus was attacked by the inferi, can you get us in that cave at the same time he arrives there?"

Kreacher stared at Severus for a minute, shook his head as if clearing away the cobwebs in his brain and finally answered him, "Yes, Master Severus." The elf was standing straighter and had a look of elation on his face. "It was early tomorrow morning at six o'clock. We went to the cave before anyone else was awake and Master Regulus drank the poison and gave me the locket to destroy. But Kreacher could not destroy it. Kreacher failed until Mistress Becca came and destroyed the one I had. Now there is another one and Master Regulus will die again and the other Kreacher will not be able to destroy it." His face went from elation to down cast in the matter of a few sentences.

"Don't worry Kreacher, we will be able to change what happened and save your Master Regulus. At least we are gong to try." Severus promised the strange elf, amused over the use of present and future tense in his statements.

They made plans to leave at half past five to go to the cave. They would have Kreacher take them there, wait for Regulus and use the inferi as Harry had suggested. When all the details were set, Severus practiced the parsletongue words for imperio, fire and a few others, so they could defend themselves against a whole lake of the animated dead corpses.

The next thing was the werewolf's cure. Severus had gotten up very early that morning and found the potions lab with a little help from an elf who called himself Assistant Biddy. He had yet to ask Becca about that title thing, but put it off till later. He spent a few hours brewing the solution and there were now twenty doses ready for consumption. When he returned to the bedroom, his young lover was still sleeping curled around a pillow. Severus had slowly climbed back into the bed and Harry was none the wiser. Severus wanted to surprise him so this had worked out better than he had hoped.

Later as Harry and Becca fell asleep by the pool, he went to find Hedwig and explained to her what he wanted to do. She hooted at him softly and gave his finger an affectionate peck as Severus tied the note and portkey to her leg for Remus. Hedwig took off through a special chute that went to the outside.

The next morning Kreacher woke Severus and Harry at half past four and the two reluctantly got up and went through their morning ablutions and sat down in the dining room for a brief breakfast of tea and toast. They discussed again what they needed to do and what they would do with Regulus after they saved him. It would not be safe for him if the other Death Eaters had **even a hint **of what he was doing.

When they got to the cave, Regulus was already inside and making his way to the boat. Harry and Severus tried to stop him and were almost hexed for their trouble until Regulus got a glimpse of Kreacher standing behind them. He did a double take with his own Kreacher already in the boat and started to listen to what they were trying to tell him.

"Regulus, we are here to help, not try to stop you. Look at me; do I remind you of someone?" Severus asked. He was hoping that Regulus would recognize him on his own so he could explain and they could continue to try for the horcrux. Regulus looked at Severus for several minutes and finally answered the question.

"You look like an older Severus Snape, but his father is a muggle so I know you can't be him and he has no other siblings, so who are you?"

"I am an older Severus Snape. Regulus, I have traveled back in time to help end this war. We don't have time to go into detail, but just to let you know, you die in this cave and we want to change that. We want to imperio one of the inferi to drink the potion while Harry, you and I use a fire and light spell to keep the rest of them back; this lake is full of them." He watched as the young man's face when stalk white. "If we get out of here alive, we have a safe place to bring you so we can explain further."

Regulus nodded his head and then asked, "How are we all going to get across the water, only two can fit into that boat."

Harry at this point pulled out his Firebolt and said, "We fly right over the water, but first…" Harry raised his hand to the lake and hissed "_finite_" Then Harry straddled his broom and kicked off the ground. "Alright everyone, we are ready to cross the lake. Regulus, you take the boat with both Kreachers. Sev and I will fly across and meet you at the bowl."

But Regulus was not quite listening. He was looking at Harry with fear and horror in his eyes. He heard the parsletongue and couldn't believe that the Dark Lord had found him out and was doing this to him. He knew he was going to die. This whole thing was a trick of some kind. Only the Dark Lord could speak in parsletongue.

Severus saw Reg's face blanch when Harry started speaking to the lake and could guess what he was thinking. "Reg, you need to calm down. We really are here to help just ask Kreacher. Command him to tell the truth and I will do the same. You can believe him." Severus then commanded the elf and he heard Regulus do the same.

"This Kreacher be telling the truth and asked these new Masters to help. This Kreacher saw you die Master Regulus, didn't want it to happen again."

"Kreacher, how did these two men become your Masters? You are the Black elf, not a Snape elf."

"Kreacher still being the Black elf protects Lord Black he does. Harry Potter is now Lord Black in the other time."

"I've never heard of Harry Potter. Is he related to James Potter?"

"Yes, but we have to leave the explanations for now. The more time we spend in here the longer we are exposed to possible attack." So the three adults and two elves made their way across the lake. Severus touched the water as Harry and Regulus stood with their wands ready to create a fire. The inferi started to rise up as Severus hissed "_imperio_" and pointed his wand at one of the living dead. The corpse immediately stood at attention and Severus was able to get it near to the bowl of poison. He forced serving after serving of the potion down the throat of the dead body until he got at the end and saw the locket.

"Regulus, do you have the other locket that you were going to replace this one with? We should stick to the original plan as much as possible, without your death of course." Regulus threw him the other locket while keeping up the wand fire to keep the other inferi back. When Severus was finished he pushed the imperio-ed inferi back into the water, then he got out his wand to help Harry and Reg hold back Voldemort's army of the dead.

Harry had another idea but it was a risk, he grabbed Severus' hand and said, "Sev, on the count of three, switch to lumos maxima!" Severus nodded his head and at Harry's count, they switch to the new spell while holding onto each other as they had done before. It was like turning on the sun the spell was so strong. All the inferi were driven back deep into the lake water where the light could not reach. They waited till Regulus and the two Kreachers were on dry land then both got on the broom still holding the light and reached Regulus without harm.

"Yes, we did it!" Harry shouted then addressed Regulus. "Now we need to do something else before we leave. Regulus, I don't know if you are aware of it, but Tommy can track you through the mark. If we leave here, it is possible for him to find you even before we get you to a safe place. I want to remove the mark from your arm so that he can no longer feel or steal you're magic. Will you let me do this?"

"Who's Tommy?" The younger Black brother asked in puzzlement.

"Your leader of the dark; Tom Marvolo Riddle aka Lord Voldemort."

Regulus' eyebrows shot up at that remark but then he said, "The dark mark cannot be removed, we all know that. I will have to take my chances, but I don't want to put you in further danger. Somehow I get the feeling that there is a lot more to this story than I could possibly imagine."

"Possibly, but I was serious about the mark. I need to remove it."

"Will it hurt?" Regulus asked with some trepidation, imagining having to cut off his arm.

"It will hurt a little; mine did, but not as bad as it did to get it in the first place." Severus joined into the conversation. With this revelation Severus rolled up his sleeve and showed his unblemished pale skin on his left arm.

"Wow, I never dreamed that could be done. Alright I am ready, have been ready since I got the damn thing and then realized the man was a fraud."

Harry held Regulus' arm and started to hiss "_You have to leave; you are a squatter and no longer wanted. You trespass on this property under lies and pretences of the one who created you. You must go now_." Regulus watched as the mark hissed and seemed to answer back to Harry. "_I was wanted and was welcome when I was created. I don't have to leave._" Harry was persistent, as Becca had told him to be and stated, "_You were wanted by the belief of lies and are no longer welcome, magic holds best in the truth. You must leave._" The mark suddenly started to blur as if breaking up and with a hiss it became a black cloud above the arm and left.

Regulus sat down on the rock and cried.

Harry and Severus knew what a relief it was to be free of the monster that made their lives miserable so they left Regulus to himself for a few minutes while they destroyed the locket. Harry had brought one of the basilisk teeth from the chamber. Soon though, they had to get out of there. They pulled out the scarf that was a portkey and handed Reg a corner to hold on to. Kreacher said he could pop home with the other Kreacher but Harry admonished him to go to the first level reception room, not the main house. Kreacher nodded and popped away holding the hand of Reg's identical but younger elf.

They arrived at the Prince safe house, and as usual, Harry nearly fell flat on his face before Severus grabbed his shirt to keep him upright. The Kreachers arrived right at the same time and Severus also noticed a table in the room filled with all kinds of breakfast foods and the ever present teapot filled with the fragrant brew.

"Regulus Black, before we proceed any further, I must ask for a wizard's oath that you will not reveal anything you are about to hear, nor anything you see here in this facility." Regulus took out his wand and made the oath, adding to not reveal anything of what transpired earlier either.

With the oath in place and a table full of food they began to eat and try to bring Reg up to speed. They did not tell him everything, but he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief when he heard they were not following Dumbledore. Then he spoke of his own observations about the eccentric headmaster.

Kreacher the younger was still in the room and he looked to his Master. "What would Master have Kreacher do?" Regulus had forgotten about the elf momentarily and could not decide what he should do with the little being. He turned to Severus and lifted a brow as if to say 'What do you think'?

Severus picking up on the facial expression said, "You will have to go back to Grimmauld Place and not tell anyone where you have been or what we were doing. We have stopped Regulus from dying but if other people know he is here, other events may not occur. We need to be able to anticipate the reactions of others and other events. Your master will have to hide for awhile until it is safer for him. Don't worry, Kreacher, it will not be that long. You are an important part in saving our world."

At this statement, Kreacher stood a little straighter and looked to his master for final instructions. Reg looked on him fondly and told him, "Everything he has said is true, you must go back to Grimmauld and I forbid you from telling anyone what has happened today. You may tell my mother that I am safe, but you can't tell where. Say nothing more except 'this is a Slytherin matter'. She will understand what that means and will keep the secret that I am alive."

The little elf bowed his head and answered his master. "I understand and will obey master. I will keep your secret but your absence will be noticed from the house." Then with that last comment, the elf popped home.

Regulus Black was sitting in front of the other two men that were snuggled up together while the younger one slept in his mate's lap.

It was good to be alive.


	29. Adding to the Team

Chapter 29: Adding to the Team

Severus and Reg were having an enlightening conversation about being a Death Eater and having the mark removed, and the feeling of freedom, and the relief of being able to be a part of destroying the evil wizard. Severus was able to reveal some of old Voldy's philosophy and why he pressured purebloods into joining him. Regulus was most distressed when he found out that they would die when the man was killed, he also didn't know that he had joined a half blood with a platform of blood purity.

Harry moaned and changed position, murmuring about talking too much and then climbed into Severus' lap and put his arms around his neck only to snuggle his face into the crook of his lovers neck and go back to sleep. It had been an early morning for them and Harry was not back to full strength. He usually, Severus had noticed, fell asleep after putting out tremendous amounts of power as he had in the cave and at Diagon Alley.

Severus smirked and a small rumble of laughter could be heard in his chest as Harry's ear was **right there**, but other than that Harry settled down again and went back to sleep.

"Sorry about my partner, it was an early morning and it was just a week ago he almost died. His Uncle almost beat him to death and we had to rescue him." He went on to explain what had happened and how they had come to be here. He was careful, however, to omit the fact that James Potter was Harry's father and about the couple dying from the killing curse. He, Harry and Becca had all agreed that they needed to keep that secret no matter what oath someone had taken.

Regulus was intrigued. "Some of the medical theories you are describing are very different that anything I have every heard. My cousin, Narcissa, was interested in being a healer before she met and married her husband and she would tell me some of the latest information, but I have never heard any of this."

"I forgot you were related to the Malfoys. That could come in handy later. In the other time line the family, with several other pureblood lines all died out. Voldemort becomes more vicious as he becomes more insane."

Just as Severus finished his statement Becca came into the room and sat down in one of the chairs that matched the brown leather couch. The whole room was decorated in soothing muted tones of brown and beige. After she sat down she addressed Regulus for the first time.

"Hi, you must be Regulus Black, I'm glad you are here. My name is Rebecca Prince but everyone calls me Becca." She held out her arm to shake hands with Regulus, but he took her hand and kissed the back of it before releasing it.

Regulus, who looked at Becca as the beautiful woman she was, replied, "Hi, you must be related to Harry. You have his beautiful green eyes, but they look better on you." Becca blushed but said nothing.

Severus grinned and answered for Becca. "Yes, this is the other bearer that is carrying mine and Harry's son. She is our great granddaughter and came from farther in the future than we did. She is the reason Harry is still alive and the author of this facility and so by proxy the reason you are now alive."

Regulus lifted his brows in surprise but showed no other emotion. Then Becca said "Actually, this facility was designed more by the goblins than me, I just told them what we needed. The books were mostly written by, the Severus and Harry that were my great grandfathers. Severus, I brought two copies of the completed manuscript with the changes you and Harry indicated. I thought maybe you would want to let Mr. Black read one and maybe you would want to go over the other, one more time before we go to press."

"I do want Reg to read the book about Voldemort, but how did you find the time to finish them so soon? I would have thought it would take weeks to complete and we haven't given you that much time. You haven't been staying up at night to complete them have you?"

"No sir, the books were on the computer and I merely had to make the changes but not type or rewrite the whole pages. I just went upstairs to use the computer."

Severus nodded. He knew a little about computers but didn't know how to operate one. He would have to get Becca to show him.

"Tell me about what it was like in your time." Regulus challenged, he was sure that it was good as she was such a sweet young woman. "Tell me how old you are."

Severus was interested in this conversation. He and Harry had not had time to have this discussion with her yet and he wanted to know what prompted her to start jumping timelines and come to him. He realized as she started her story that things had gotten really bad.

"My great grandfathers were very special, gifted with different powers not just from the founders of Hogwarts but from Merlin himself. They couldn't find five of the seven horcruxes, however, before Voldemort started activating them. He had found a way to reproduce but his offspring were not human, they were part snake." Becca shuddered as she said that. "Oh they could take on the appearance of human, well mostly, but they were like snake animagi. There were five of them and he put a piece of his soul in each one. My grandfathers had destroyed the other two. When he was defeated, he kept coming back." Becca paused for a breath, trying to think of how to continue her story.

"My great granddad, Harry was branded as a sex slave by Albus Dumbledore and he tried to take Harry's power by an ancient spell, but something went wrong. Harry had already met his soul mate and the bond had already started to form even without consummating it yet. This made Dumbledore very angry and he decided to join forces with Voldemort or Tom Riddle as he was originally named. I believe his idea was to later take control from Voldemort after they conquered the wizarding world. They wreaked havoc over half the continent. My great grandfathers and grandfathers and grandmothers all formed an underground for people to flee to; much like the underground railroad of muggle Americans during the Civil War. They saved as many as they could while trying to find a way to defeat two evil lords at the same time."

Harry had woken when Becca came in but pretended to be asleep so he could stay in his lover's arms as she continued to speak. He didn't know she had gone through all this. He wanted to know more and listened carefully as she continued her story."

"I was born the seventh daughter of a seventh couple. My mother was the seventh daughter of her family and my father was the seventh son of Evan Sebastian Prince. Their marriage was the only one prearranged by contract in our family. I was bred for this as someone with enough power would have to go back in time. It takes great power to do that. My great grandfathers had chosen to change their name to Prince as a way to throw off the press and the two evil lords. By the time I was born and of age, Hogwarts had long been taken over by the others that were trying to destroy our and the muggle world. Most of my family was killed in a series of attacks by the snakes that had started to infiltrate our underground."

Becca paused again, and then continued. "Our family was the first time spirits in over one thousand years. It is not known how it happened; some speculate it was one of the gifts from Merlin; all we know is that it started with Harry and Severus. They studied the books they found in one of their vaults and waited for an open window to go back and change things, but some of the rules restricted their interference with time." Becca paused again to get her breath. She called for an elf to bring her some juice.

So while carefully leaving out information about the Potters and that Harry was their son, she gave him an abbreviated version of how she had come back in time to change events.

They continued to talk until it was an hour before dinner. Harry had woken up and got off of Severus' lap at some point and joined in the conversation. Regulus was starting to get a headache from having so much information thrown at him all at one time. Harry and Severus could sympathize.

"Becca, can we assign some living quarters for Reg and maybe get him a change of clothes?" Severus asked as they were leaving the first level. "He has taken the oath, the mark has been removed and the locket destroyed."

Becca nodded. "Any man who gives his life, in three timelines to destroy one of those things is alright by me. I had already anticipated that and some of his old clothes were in the trunks that were packed from the other timeline. We can call his Kreacher to bring more if we need to. Maybe Seamstress Sissy from Prince Fashions can come and make him a cloak."

Severus' head shot up as she said that. "That is something I wanted to ask you about, why do the elves have titles? I have never heard of that before."

"Elves are intelligent beings that have been down trodden for a long time. Our elves have specific jobs they were specially trained for, and they take pride in that. It gives them a voice to make suggestions for improvement and lets everyone else know their station. Besides, as you know, nearly all the elves from the other Hogwarts came with us." Severus nodded. "Well, they have counterparts with the same names and we are still the heirs of Hogwarts. The titles differentiate between the two. "

"Ah, I understand, and Prince Fashions?"

Becca nodded. "We needed something to do with the acromantula silk and the basilisk skins Harry and I collected. We have it in abundance. The spiders in the forbidden forest are quite a colony and we help them and the centaurs and the unicorns."

As Severus nodded, Becca turned to Regulus and said, "Come Mr. Black, I will show you the quarters reserved for you, there are some rules you will have to follow. We are here to help create a better future in this timeline and we are currently under the radar of the ministry and want to keep it that way."

"Under the radar?"

"Old muggle expression, in this case it means we are currently undetected and magic is not used above this underground manor. You are currently underground in a muggle area in a facility the Ministry doesn't know about. As you may know, you must have a building permit to build in a wizarding area. So we built it elsewhere."

"Very Slytherin of you Miss Prince, very Slytherin of you indeed."

"Well, it was Salazar's portrait that helped me come up with the idea."

"You have Salazar's portrait?"

"I have a great many resources, Mr. Black." She informed him, and then returned to the original conversation. "Living underground, in a muggle area, means the Ministry doesn't know about us and we want to keep it that way."

Becca and Regulus made their way through the massive space as she took him to the second level where his quarters were located; as they walked she pointed out the pool, spa and flying area. As they approached to back where the quarters were located, Becca told him, "I'll show you to the house above your quarters tomorrow. When you are refreshed call for Valet Kreacher and he will come get you. Dinner is served at seven which gives you about an hour. Good day Mr. Black."

Just as they were sitting down to eat; Hedwig came in with an answer to the missive sent to Remus. Severus took the parchment from Hedwig and excused himself for a few minutes.

Severus,

I was surprised to hear from you, but you are correct. My 'furry little problem' as Sirius calls it has gotten worse for me as my friends and I drift farther apart. I would agree to come and try your remedy trusting that you will not poison me or use me for potion ingredients.

In all seriousness, if you have a cure and it works well, I can get several more werewolves to join the side of the light. You didn't give me much information, but I will be using the portkey at the end of the week.

Thank you,

Remus

Severus was glad that he had replied so soon. If he could get him to work for their company and maybe come visit at Christmas, Harry would be so surprised and really have the best holiday ever.

He returned to the dinning room and sat down to eat with the others. There was some general conversation but nothing too intensive. It was like they were a real family and Regulus talked about his friends in school and some about his parents. Then he spoke about his brother a little. He was funny and intelligent, but Becca held her self back for some reason.

The remainder of the week was much the same as the first part, planning and reviewing contracts, making plans to build the business. Regulus helped, he was quite the business man and wanted to work in the publishing division. He and Harry would go flying sometimes and were getting closer like brothers.

On one particular mid morning, the four of them made plans to go swimming in the pool. As Regulus and Harry were swimming with Becca, The Seven entered the pool area and wanted to join the fun. First Born entered the pool initially to get Harry's attention, but he got more than he bargained for. Reg, who was still a little leery about the whole parslemouth thing, saw the snake in the water and with a screamed "NO!" scrambled out of the pool. He remembered Nagini and this was just too surreal for him to comprehend. When he sat down on one of the chairs next to the huge swimming pool he noticed six other snakes waiting to enter.

"HARRY!" Regulus screamed again as the young man was greeting his beloved familiar. "Why do we have snakes visiting all over the place? Do you have to have all these snakes around? What ever happened to a nice little puppy or kitten or something?" Regulus wanted to leave the room but was afraid to more, and he wanted to find out from Harry what was going on.

Harry and Becca both laughed. Their little friends had not been out of their quarters for awhile now and wanted to get out of the rooms, so they made their way to the pool. They knew Regulus would most likely have a bad reaction given that Nagini was always a threat at the Death Eater meetings. The snakes wanted to spend some time with their masters and needed to know Regulus so they knew he was friend and not foe. Becca swam over to the other six and started hissing a greeting, and then she looked at Regulus. "They will not hurt you as long as you do not attack us. If you prove to be dishonest and attack or try to harm us in any way, they will attack without any command from us."

"Where did these snakes come from? I do not recognize their breed."

"Ah" Becca answered as she picked up Seventh Born to put her in the warm water. "They are basilisks and were bred for us in the other time line. Probably in this one too, but I have no information on that, and now is not the time for me to get into Hogwarts to the Chamber of Secrets."

"You mean the chamber exists? You know how to get into it? Where did you get this information?" Regulus paused for a minute and then answered his own question. "Oh, future, yeah I get it. How did you find them?"

"Harry killed their mother in his second year, when we went to go dissect the great snake, we found a door and these were behind it. They were sealed in there for years for their own protection. Evidently Tom Riddle did something to their mother and instead of keeping the school safe; she became a danger to the students so Harry killed her, but not before the mother sealed her younglings in a small chamber so Tom could not get to them too. We don't really know the time frame, but their mother was about one thousand years old."

She started hissing again at the snake and Harry had been with the others while she was talking to Reg. All the snakes entered into the pool and were swimming around their masters having a great time swirling around them. Regulus just looked on in fascinated horror. He could not imagine having friends that were actual snakes. His Slytherin friends would never believe this even if he could tell them.

Severus came into the room a little later and saw Regulus sitting in a chair with his arms around his legs that had been propped up. He wondered why he had such a defensive pose until he noticed the snakes in the pool. Ah, The Seven were here and Regulus was probably a little perturbed at the sight. He couldn't blame him, it had taken Severus a little time to get used to it too. Severus transfigured his clothes into a swimming costume and went over to the side of the pool and started hissing. Reg stared at him with a disbelieving look.

"Alright people, just how many parslemouths are there in wizarding Britain? I have never heard so much hissing in my life and that includes the Dark Lord's meetings."

"Salazar gave me the gift," Severus informed him. "Harry was either born with it or got it from Voldemort when he hit him with the killing curse and Becca was born with it."

"Every time I have a conversation with you, I find out some other unbelievable piece of information or another mind-boggling story. How did Harry manage to survive the killing curse? No one can survive that."

Severus spoke again. "And no one can remove the mark, and no one else can speak parsletongue, and no one can apparate in Hogwarts, and no one can enter the Chamber of Secrets." Severus told him, "What's one more thing someone else can't do?" The older man quirked an eyebrow at him the explained no one knew how but Harry survived the killing curse at the tender age of fifteen months destroying the Dark Lords body in the process.

"So how did Salazar Slytherin end up giving you the gift of talking to snakes?" After Severus finished explaining Regulus put his legs down and whistled low. "You people have the most interesting life I have ever heard of. You should write a book about this, it would sell millions."

"You're life is not so normal either." Harry chirped in. "From Death Eater, to destroying a part of the one you once swore to serve, to being here with us. That is not exactly normal and don't worry, we have lots of adventures to go on yet. You could help take all those people away from good old Voldy and make him really mad. Just think of the stories you would be able to write."

"Somehow I get the feeling that it would take a lot of years to catch up with you three." Regulus replied. "Make way I am coming back in." Reg dove into the pool after Harry and Becca moved the snakes just as Reg hit the water with a big splash.

"You know, I cannot believe that I am here, swimming in the middle of December with seven basilisks in the pool instead of lying in the bottom of that lake of dead bodies. I guess I really could write a book with you guys."

They all laughed and started to play some water games even getting Severus to join the fun.

Remus arrived at two in the afternoon and Severus was waiting for him. Harry, Regulus and Becca were in the pool having fun and trying to race each other in a swimming contest when Severus excused himself. He made his way to the first level and waited but he didn't have long to wait. When Remus arrived, he looked at Severus with shock. Severus realized he looked much older than Remus expected and he immediately asked for a wizard's oath for secrecy about where he was and what he was going to hear.

He gave Remus a little information about him coming from the future. He didn't say anything about Harry or the baby Lily was going to have in seven months or any thing else, he did speak about Prince Conglomerate and needing many employees for different divisions. Remus was completely speechless at first. He wanted to try the cure first and of course he could work with Prince Conglomerate if they were willing to hire him

"Severus. I don't know what to say. This is a great opportunity but I will not serve Voldemort and I know that you are a Death Eater." Severus nodded and rolled up his sleeves on both arms so Remus could see the clear skin, then he explained.

"I was a supporter of Voldemort at one time, but like most people that join him, I regretted it. I found out that most of his blood purity speech, and his promises of power were all a bunch of lies. That is partly why I am here, to set things straight. I have a way to remove the dark mark from those who wish to be free of that mad man. For now, until the time is right, I can change only a few things and you are one of the things I intend to make better. This cure is not available to anyone yet, but I don't want to tell the public about it. I wish you to be the spokesman only to the werewolves for this venture and help the others like you, but keep this as quiet as possible. Will you accept the challenge?"

As he put the challenge out there he handed Remus a vial of the werewolf's cure. Remus hesitantly accepted it and looked at Severus one more time. He carefully took the seal off the vial and with one last desperate look upended the potion into his mouth and passed out.

Severus was expecting this reaction and quickly sent a levitating charm his way. He went down a corridor to some guest quarters he had one of the elves prepare prior to the man's arrival. He left Remus sleeping off the shock of the potion after writing a note on what elf to call and when he would see him next.

Another one was added to the team.


	30. Along Came a Spider

Posted 09 October 2009

Chapter 30: Along Came a Spider

As they gathered for dinner that evening, they were interrupted with a flash in the room and a squawk and a beautiful phoenix suddenly appeared. "Fawkes!" Harry cried. "Where have you been? I thought you left." Harry was so excited to see the bird and to know he was alright.

"Shashi had him till he grew back; remember he was nothing but an infant in ashes last week. We were too busy to take care of him at first and once Shashi was taking care of him, I thought he should stay but obviously the bird has other ideas."

"Is this Fawkes, as in the headmasters familiar Fawkes?" Reg asked everyone in the room.

"Yep, that's Fawkes from the other timeline." Harry stated as he was affectionately petting the fire phoenix. "Dumbledore had him magically chained to his perch and we relieved him from the burden. You should have seen Dumbledore's face though, that was priceless."

"Is this another one of those adventures that I don't know about?"

"Yep. There is a room of mirrors at Hogwarts in the Chamber…" Harry said in a conspiratorial whisper and so he proceeded to explain another story to Regulus all the while petting Fawkes while First Born was lying over his lap.

Severus disappeared after dinner and Harry was wondering what he was doing. The older man had been coming and going several times during the last few days and he wanted to know what was going on. He thought about following him, but he didn't want Severus to think he was not trusted. Maybe he could give him a special night when they went to bed.

Severus knew Harry was going to be suspicious if he kept leaving without letting him know where he was going, but he really wanted to surprise Harry. As he entered the rooms that had been assigned to Remus he knocked on the bedroom door and heard a weak, "enter" from inside. As he was walking to the bed, Remus sat up and started to apologize for lying about when Severus was coming to visit.

"Remus, this is a reaction to the potion, don't worry about it. How do you feel now? Are you in any pain?"

"No, no pain except for a little headache. I feel funny though. I don't know why." Remus answered Severus as honestly as he could.

"That's normal I think. You are missing the wild wolf. I do believe you will be a wolf animagus though, you should check into that. Maybe see if James and that dog friend of yours can help you." Remus didn't say anything but he gave Severus a quirky look. No one was suppose to know about James and Sirius being animagi, and that was what he seemed to be referring to.

Severus noticed the look but continued with his instructions. "You may let people know you have taken a cure for the werewolf curse, but not where you were or how you got it. Prince Pharmaceuticals will be the only thing you can tell them but not until after the New Year. Remember your oath and please don't give away any of our secrets. It is imperative for the future of the wizarding world. If this got out too soon and Voldemort got a hold of this information before we have certain safeguards in place… well you understand?"

"Don't worry Severus, I won't say anything, I just can't believe that the werewolf is gone. The relief of never having to deal with that evil again is a huge burden gone. I can't thank you enough. Let me know what you want. I know I don't have much money to pay you, but I will repay you somehow."

Severus raised a hand in a gesture to stop the marauder's rant. "I thought I was clear about that earlier. I want others to get the same relief; I want to give you a job as the werewolf that was cured if you can stand the press later on. I want to get the cure to other werewolves. But most importantly, I don't want any of these werewolves to belong to Voldemort. You are helping us keep these people from joining that megalomaniac and therefore keeping his numbers down. He will come and make promises but will not follow through. We are going to follow through without bringing them into the war."

"I have nineteen more doses. You may take these with you and distribute them, but be careful that they are only given to people you trust absolutely. I don't want Voldemort getting a hold of this stuff. Always make the person take it in front of you and take the vial back and bring it to me so that I can reuse it. There is no charge for the potion and those that want a job can have one." Severus pulled out a list the three had gone over for positions that needed to be filled within the company. "Here is a list of positions available that should accommodate the werewolf schedule easily enough. They don't have to take the cure to work for us, I am not forcing them to be cured or to work, I am only giving them the opportunity so they can resist joining Voldemort. You will be the liaison and have a manager's position so I want you to get some new clothes. Go to Madam Malkin's and get a new wardrobe. They are waiting for you to come and the bill will be sent to us."

"I won't be able to pay this back Severus. I can't accept this. It's too much."

"You will be working and representing Prince Pharmaceuticals and Prince Conglomerate. You will be working it off. Don't worry Remus, It's not that much and there will be uniforms for everyone who works for us, including the elves." Then, changing the subject, Severus snapped his fingers and asked, "Are you hungry?" At Remus' nod Severus called "Cook Diddy, Valet Nixy" When the two little elves popped into the room, they were excited to see Remus sitting there and not a werewolf anymore.

"Oh, Master Remus, We are so glad to see you." Cried one of the elves while the other said, "Yes, Master Remus, so happy to see you are well."

"Cook Diddy, you will be assigned as Master Remus' elf, please bring him dinner and Valet Nixy, you will see to his rooms and his clothes and anything else he needs."

"Severus," Remus started to say, "You don't need to do this. The job is more than enough." But Severus held up his palm as if to say stop.

"When you get into your duties, which will become quite cumbersome after the Holidays, you will be glad for the extra help. These elves came with us from the other timeline and need the work too. Please allow them to do so. We always address our elves with titles; it is an honor to them, please do the same. They are yours to command, but if something big came up and we needed their help, we would let you know and call them back." Severus had started to turn away and leave the room, when he looked back again and said "Oh, and Remus? Welcome to Prince Pharmaceuticals."

Remus nodded his head in understanding and got out of bed so he could eat his dinner. He felt a little overwhelmed at all this, but he was not going to turn it down. It was the opportunity of a lifetime.

When Severus finally got back to his and Harry's bedroom, his soulmate was already asleep and curled up around a pillow. He looked so peaceful that Severus opted not to wake him as he quickly got ready for bed and joined his lover in restful sleep.

The following morning Severus and Harry made their way to the Forbidden Forest by way of Hogsmead. That morning Gorbink had called the headmaster to come look at a scholarship fund that had been donated by an anonymous benefactor. McGonagall went with him as it would require two signatures to spend the funds on indigent and low income children. There were conditions that needed to be met and certain qualifications for each family to adhere to for the funds to be disbursed. The main concern was not to let Dumbledore siphon the funds into his own pockets by making more than one person needed to access the grant money. It took them just enough time to take care of business at Gringotts, for the soulmated couple to get to the spiders.

Becca had coached them on how to approach the centaurs first. They needed to grant access through their land to get to the spiders.

Roroan and Magorian were the first to see them and they greeted Severus and Harry with crossbows aimed at the two men. Harry and Severus quickly went down on their left knee. Harry spoke first.

"Greetings Great Ones, we seek a crossing of your territory to go and visit the spiders."

"No one crosses here and the spiders are dangerous and will kill you." Magorian said.

"We only wish to pass safely along the path and mean you no harm." Harry replied.

"And what path do you wish to cross that you think will reach the spiders."

"Only the path you set us upon, that which the stench of our humanity will be the least offensive, oh Great Ones." Harry replied. He didn't remember if these were the exact words Becca had told him to say, but they were close.

"Who are you that you seek passage through our lands and speak of our ways so willingly?"

"The ones who have come to save the child soon to be born as the seventh month dies." This was said by Severus and Harry together in unison.

Magorian and Roroan looked at each other and lower their crossbows. This was not only the password but they had seen it in the stars. "You will be granted passage; the path you seek is that way." He pointed to a path that lead farther in the forest and with a deep bow, Harry and Severus went down the path indicated. After they had briskly walked into the thickness of trees for about half an hour they came to a small clearing.

"This is it Sev, this is the cave. I remember it from second year." Harry was excited they found the cave but not excited to go in.

"Then let us proceed cautiously, shall we?" Severus started to move closer to the cave with Harry right behind them.

"Aragog!" Harry called out, "Aragog, we come in peace to help your children." Hopefully that would get his attention.

"Harry, what about cautious did you not understand?" Severus challenged tersely to the young man with exasperation in his voice.

As the spiders started to swarm around them, Aragog came to the front of the cave. "Who is it that disturbs my sleep?" He asked in his booming voice.

"I am Harry Prince and this is Severus Prince, we wish to renew your contract to feed your children for an exchange of resources."

"I have not dealt with you before, how do I know you are here to help us?" Harry used a two way mirror to have a few head of stock transferred to his location. All of a sudden, there were a few dozen rabbits, goats and cattle in the clearing. "We wish to trade and provide you and your children with food."

"We have been dealing with the goblins; we have not had humans here before." Aragog said as his children scattered and attacked the animals that had just been delivered. They were obviously ready for the delivery and Harry was glad to see even the little ones chase after the rabbits.

Harry was smiling at this. He and Severus were excited that this worked so well, but he knew that the spiders were not getting food from anywhere else. "The goblins help run our company. Our purpose is to keep creatures such as you out of the war. We wish to express our desire to continue with the current contract."

"You have not told me who exactly you are and why you are worried about the war." Aragog's voice boomed again.

"We have come to save the child that will be born as the seventh month dies, and bring peace to our worlds." Severus had spoken to the huge spider. "Prince Conglomerate will continue to help all creatures come to a peaceful understanding and help everyone work together. We are just getting started."

"We will be agreeable to continue the contract but only until you prove yourselves unworthy. If you are proven to be untrustworthy, we will discontinue and bring a new war upon you." Aragog was letting them know in a not so subtle way that they better tell the truth.

"We would initially want to clear your cave of the discarded shells. Our builders are most anxious to go back to work. Your venom is most valuable also and helps pay for the raising of the animals. We have brought some vials to fill if you would be willing, if not consider this shipment of animals as a goodwill peace offering and we will be on our way."

"How often could you deliver this amount of fresh meat?"

Harry smiled, he was hooked. "We can deliver this many animals about once a month. It would not be the same animals all the time, but it would be the equivalent of this much food every time."

"Then we have an agreement, there is a cave we use to store our discarded shells. We do not use them for anything so you may take them with you. If you have the vials I will see that they are filled as you gather the discarded shells. I want to make sure that you will not be attacking us in any way when you make your deliveries. It would be almost impossible to poison us but we want that assurance."

"You have our wizard's oath that this is not an ambush or a way to destroy you. This is a way to make peace. We only ask a few things in return. We ask that you no longer attack the other magical creatures such as the centaurs and unicorns. They are very valuable to us." Aragog nodded at this, they had only attacked for food, before the goblins came with the first contract many years ago, as they were starving and the forest did not provide enough wildlife to support their colony. "We also ask that if approached, you do not join the Death Eaters if they ask. We do not want to support Voldemort's army. With this agreement, we will provide you with enough food to support your family."

Aragog nodded. This was an equitable agreement for both parties and not charity that the spiders would hate. He would have to speak to the other acromantulas and make sure they understood the contract was still in force, but they may be seeing other humans.

"One more thing, Aragog, we do not agree with Dumbledore and his machinations, so we would prefer you did not join up with his army either. We are here in preparation of the child to come. We are his protectors."

Aragog bowed deeply in respect and took the ten large vials from the two men. "I have heard of this child and will do as you ask, we have an agreement. I will fill these vials half with my own venom, but half with the venom of a little one. Nature gives the most potent poison to the youngest that are less able to protect themselves. It should be good for your potions. In the cave where the discarded armor shells are stored, is also much webbing to make silk with. You may take that as well. We can use that cave for the transfers, it should keep you out of the forest if you can portkey in, leave the food and take the product. That is how the goblins have been doing it. If you need more you can let us know and we will do the same."

"Thank you Aragog, we look forward to a most equitable and safe future." After Severus' farewell, the men made it to the cave and looked in wonder at the size and fullness of discarded shells and webs. They bound the shells together and attached a portkey to send the lot to the location that created the flooring and armors, and then they swished their wands and collected the webbing without touching it and sent it to the clothing factory. Harry got back on the mirror and called for more animals to be shipped to his location as soon as possible. A few minutes later, sheep and pigs were in the cleared out cave with more of the rabbits and goats.

They walked back to Aragog to collect their venom and explain. "Aragog, your offerings far outweigh our payment of earlier. We have filled your cave with more food. We erected a small barrier to keep the animals in but you and your children can easily get through it or may release the animals for sport.

"Then we are honored that you are fair and true businessmen. We will have more next month for you and if you send the vials in advance, they will be waiting in the cave with the other things you ask for. This actually solves a problem for us as the cave was getting full and we don't have a use for all those shells. We are a large family and molt often."

The two wizards bowed to Aragog and his children surrounding him and left up the pathway from which they came.

Harry was glad that Severus was with him. He knew the translation spell to speak with others that didn't know or understand English. While they were in the forest, similar transactions were preformed throughout the dense sections of trees with the Centaurs, Unicorns, thestrals, pixies, fairies, and then the giant squid and the merpeople. All were beings who had something to give in the way of potion ingredients, or other services and all who needed something in return and were aware of a prophecy about the child born in the seventh month. All were willing to work together to keep peace on the grounds of Hogwarts, and look after the children and make sure when the child came to school he would be welcomed and protected.

And so more were gathered into the fold.

That night after dinner, Severus excused himself by telling Harry that he had a potion simmering that he needed to go check. When Harry asked if he could join him he declined and told him to stay and visit with the others.

Harry stayed with the others, but was preoccupied with thoughts of what Severus was really doing. He was acting so distant lately.


	31. Finding the Perfect Gift

Posted 11 October 2009

Chapter 31: Finding the Perfect Gift

It was not even Christmas and everything was in production. A few more strategy sessions with Gorbink and the Prince Healing Center was operational, which was Doc's Christmas Present. It was masked as a muggle hospital just as the one that was developing in the States but underground it could service squibs and almost squibs. The above ground level was actually run by muggles that continued the study of the effects of sound waves on humans, but underneath was Doc's team for wizard families. Anyone of the wizarding world had to make an appointment then was portkeyed in. No one saw the outside of the building nor knew where it was.

The acromantula shells were delivered to ensure the goblins builders would still be working, the raw silk was delivered to Prince Fabrics, and now the Printing Press was in operation. Remus had gone to live at one of Prince Property apartment complexes (also in the muggle world) with the two elves and was in full swing in getting the cure to the werewolves that wanted it and taking orders for more. Then finding out where they were best suited in the overall plan to work for Prince Conglomerate if they wanted to. Some even received low interest loans or were granted money to start their own business and even sent to school to become school teachers or assistants. The werewolf community included muggles that were bitten as well as wizards and some could not get an education as Remus had done.

Prince Printing Press was at full steam. The idea was to send all known pureblood families a copy of the book 'So, You Want to be a Death Eater?'. What Severus liked the most was the dedication page. It read:

My Great Grandfathers once told me, "Anyone given unlimited power has just been given the right of unlimited corruption. No one person should be unaccountable for their actions, even those we trust absolutely, even Merlin."

I dedicate this book to them, they know who they are. I love and miss you,

Tempus Spiritus

It was a vague reference to Albus Dumbledore and the amount of power he wielded through the Wizengamot, the school and through the press he received. It was not an outright attack but a subtle reference. Hopefully it would help as little Harry started to grow up and was placed with the Dursleys. There would come a time when they would have to fight Albus to keep him from manipulating little Harry's life.

There were already one thousand copies of the book, also the children's story books, Merlin's Fairy Tales for the Young and Old, and Lullabies for the Young Witch or Wizard were under way, they had decided to use the name Lizzy Prince (from Becca's middle name) as the author of those books. Since the books about Voldemort were going to create quite a ruckus with its accusations and truths. They didn't want to associate it with the children's books even though it would be obvious the authors had some of the same ideas. At least both books would be ready for the holidays.

It was one week before Christmas; Remus had just received an invitation to dine at the Prince Safehouse where he first met Severus Prince. He was not sure he wanted to go as he wouldn't know anyone there, but it was his boss and he supposed he could go there before going to see Lily and James. Sirius was going to be at the Potter's too and maybe Wormtail. The old gang always got together for Christmas, but this year he had some unique gifts to give everyone and didn't have to feel like the poor cousin that couldn't contribute to the holiday. He also was going to share with them that his lycanthropy was cured and he was working for a great company. He was even offering the help of his two elves to Lily to help with dinner as he had heard she was pregnant and he knew it would be harder for her to make the Christmas Dinner.

Remus sent a response to the Princes' and then one to the Potters saying he would be a little late as he had to stop somewhere on the way. He had four of the new books about the Dark Lord and the new book of children's stories to give to Lily for the little one, he was sure it would be a good day.

Regulus was in charge of making sure every follower of Voldemort's; at least the ones he knew of, received the book. Severus helped organize this with him as he knew of more inner circle people than Reg did. They had one hundred owls ready for Christmas Eve to deliver a book that was wrapped in green foil paper with the words: 'A Gift for Your Family's Good Health' in silver writing. Hoping this would inspire the opening and reading of the present. Regulus made sure that one would go to his mother and he wrote a personal note to add to it. She would be glad to know he was still alive and well. He worried about her since his father's death just a few months before.

With all the planning and business strategies going on, Harry and Severus had spent little quality time together except for bed when they were exhausted. They both agreed that to go back out into the wizarding world was a little dangerous since the last time they were in the Alley they had been attacked and accidentally conjured the shield that caused so much speculation. He could still remember the headlines the next day**. Death Eater Attack Fended off by Merlin Heirs**, even in this time Rita Skeeter, although much younger, had a flair for the dramatic. The article only had taken in a few eye witness accounts of the shield that went up and she had them as practically Merlin's children. Idiot woman, she would write anything for a bit of glory. Harry had wanted to fire her as (thanks to Gorbink) they had thirty five percent share in the newspaper but Severus pointed out that they could use her in the future if they carefully fed her the information they wanted known. Harry reluctantly gave in.

Becca stayed more behind the scenes now, very much aware of what the unborn baby meant to the wizarding world and to her family. She was bored half the time but welcomed Regulus, Harry, Severus and The Seven for company. After the attack when they went to Diagon Alley, she did not want to risk the baby anymore than she had too. However this was against her nature; she was always in the middle of things not the planning stage or the sidelines. Severus said it would be good for her to learn patience and curb her Gryffindor side for awhile. She was accustomed to having more people around to talk to. Even Shashi and the Doc and the other healers were busy with the new healing center.

Harry went to go visit with Becca and see how she was doing. The morning sickness only hit every third or fourth day and today was close to one of those days. He found her in the sitting area of their quarters with Seventh Born in her lap and Fawkes on his perch in the corner. The other snakes not around at the time. Harry went over to pet Fawkes and feed him a treat then sat down with Becca on the sofa hissing a hello to the little basilisk.

"_I think its time to feed them again. I don't think they have been fed since we left the other Hogwarts. I know most snakes only eat once every two to four weeks, but they were very hungry before we found them_." Harry softly hissed to Becca and Seventh Born in deference to the muted lighting of the room.

"_I was thinking the same thing; maybe we should feed them some of the flesh of the male we found in the bedroom_." Becca looked at Seventh Born who was following the conversation but hadn't said anything; she then switched back to English. "Harry, why don't you go and see if Severus can give you some of the flesh that was taken from the two parents; wasn't it stored in the lab? He should be there I think, and would probably welcome your interruption."

At Harry's reluctant looked, Becca stared at him quizzically and continued, "You will be studying potions when the holidays are over. We put training on hold, but not forever. You needed to get settled and healed but now it will soon be time for work. You also need to ask Sev to make the contraceptive potion unless you want another little one on the way." Becca gave him a mischievous smile and continued. "The first one was given to you when we decided that sex magic was the fastest way to get your magical core up and running, but it only lasts about four weeks and it works better if you take it every three weeks.

Harry's face went white, he had forgotten about that. Actually he was still trying to wrap his mind around the idea of being a father soon. Most wizards had to take potions and use lunar cycles but not Harry Potter! No of course not, he got pregnant on the first time he had sex, Harry was thinking sarcastically.

"I hate going into the lab, I don't understand what Sev is doing and I end up just watching him stir a cauldron. Let's go swimming later after lunch, we can take the snakes with us and then feed them after our swim.

Becca agreed with the swimming but not about the potions. "Harry, don't you remember Salazar giving you the gift of potions? You only need to apply yourself a little and you will understand them. Ask Severus what he is doing; it will go a long way to making a better bond."

"Yeah, you're right. I'll go to the lab. See you at lunch."

Becca curled up on the sofa for a nap with Seventh Born curled up on her stomach. As Becca slept, the snake hissed a lullaby to the unborn baby.

Harry arrived in the lab and watched Severus as he was brewing something in a silver cauldron, or maybe it was pewter he wasn't sure. He watched as his lover added some ingredients to the pot and stirred again. He loved this man so much but Severus was so much smarter than him. Harry wondered why the older man stayed around and didn't get bored with him. Harry cleared his throat quietly so as not to startle him too much. His lover turned around and a warm smile graced his lips and he came over to Harry and kissed him softly. Harry deepened the kiss and Severus was soon holding his lover tightly to him with his straining erection quite evident. Harry pulled back.

"Hey love, Becca said you have the recipe for a contraceptive potion that I need to take every three or four weeks to keep from getting pregnant. Evidently we have a problem with me getting pregnant like, conceiving the first time we had sex. If I don't take it I will be with child again, and I don't know if we are ready for that considering the first one isn't here yet."

"No, I don't think we want that yet. Technically you are still sixteen years old in my book and one baby at a time is quite enough. There is a recipe here, I just need to find it and make sure we have the ingredients, but first…" Severus tackled that mouth again with all the fire and passion Harry had started when he walked in the door and kissed him. He had a vision of pounding into the young man on one of the work tables. He would probably never be able to work in this room again without thinking about it but he lifted Harry onto one of the empty worktables anyway.

Soon Harry's clothes were scattered all over the floor, then Severus' clothes immediately joined Harry's. The older man started sucking on his lover's neck and gliding down to first the right nipple, and then the left, biting and sucking hard to make Harry whimper in response. The young man was simply limp in anticipation of what would happen next. Harry started to touch Severus' chest and tried to raise just a little to get to the nipples of the older man. "No" Severus demanded as he grabbed the younger man's hands above his head, "Not your turn, you behave and stay still or I will turn you over and make you stay there."

Harry just loved it when Sev got all in control like that. It usually turned into one really hard ride. Just as Harry was thinking about that, Sev snapped on a cock ring and took him into his mouth; nibbling and sucking just the way he knew would drive his lover wild. The younger man tried to buck his hips but the older lover had a firm hold and would not let him move. "I told you to stay still." Severus demanded again just as his lover whimpered, he knew he was in trouble now as Severus got a devious smirk on his face.

"You, Mr. Harry Prince, have been found guilty of moving when told not to, you will now be punished." He swiftly but carefully turned Harry over and made sure he was in proper position with his hips barely on the table and his hard shaft and legs hanging down but his feet didn't touch the floor. Oh yes, Severus thought, this table was just the right height and he proceeded to the next step. He spanked Harry with his hand and made a red handprint on his backside. Harry almost jumped off the table. "Mr. Prince, you are not to move and have earned another spanking. Then whack, another hand print showed up but on the other arse cheek.

Severus spanked his lover a few more times before touching the hard shaft. It was harder than Severus had ever seen it. He was gratified to know that they could have fun like this together. It was another reason they were so perfect for each other. Another two whacks and Harry was a quivering mess. He begged, "please" and "more" and there were a few "Oh Merlins" thrown into the mix. Severus grabbed some lube and slicked up his hands. He inserted his thumb while rubbing the young man's rock hard member with the other hand. He knew Harry would soon be ready for him so he inserted the other thumb and very carefully pulled that sweet bud open. Both thumbs working to ready and stretch the hole that would welcome Severus into it as he filled the young man with the offerings waiting for him.

As the fingers of each hand were placed on the red ripened globes, the thumbs were pushing in and out stretching and reaching inside where Severus wanted desperately to bury himself with one quick hard thrust. The boy was almost ready, screaming and begging for release and to be filled at the same time. Severus lined up his shaft to the opening that wanted nothing more than to be complete with its master. The older lover gave a mighty thrust and pierced the boy straight to the core.

Harry screamed "Severus please". The man took that as his cue and pulled out almost all the way and thrust back in sheathing himself in one mighty push. Harry whimpered "more" so the older man pulled out and thrust back in again. Harry was incoherent. He had never felt so full.

"Sev, please…mo..oh…now…can't…Sev…need…ooooooohhhhhhh… need now…. Harder… no…harder…again…pleeeessssee.

Severus who had been thrusting fast and hard as Harry keened for more, couldn't take it anymore and had to finish. He snapped the ring off of his lover and thrust one more mighty push as they both came to completion at the same time, Severus filling up the younger man with his seed and Harry's ending up on the floor and table legs. Severus leaned on top of Harry for a few minutes before he pulled out and picked Harry up and turned him around to carry him over to a small loveseat in the corner of the room. Harry snuggled into his lover after latching his lips to that of the older man's as a thank you for the wonderful surprise.

Severus smirked and wrapped his arms around his green eyed minx. They decided to stay there through lunch and spend some much needed time together.

Later that afternoon as Becca was in the pool with The Seven, Harry limped in with the food for the snakes.

"What's the problem Harry? You look like you're in pain or something." Becca said with a sneaky smirk on her lips.

"Why would you say that?

"You are limping, love, and you look well and truly satisfied. Guess you and Sev had a good potions lesson, huh?"

"Shut it, you." He told Becca even as his face turned a bright red. Harry then hissed for the snakes to come and eat. He laid out seven slices of the meat from the father and told the snakes that it was kept for them to feed on.

"Becca, I don't know what to get Severus for Christmas, we can't go shopping and I can't think of anything." Harry looked at the woman he considered to be a sister and frowned. "What am I going to do?"

"I have an idea, but it might be kind of tricky."

"I am up for anything at this point."

"There is a really rare plant that grows in the marshes of the southern United States; I have an acquaintance there that lives near where it grows. The flower flourishes in abundance there, but it is hard to transport long distances even with magic. The plants travel well in short trips but for long trips not so well, even with a portkey. But I think if we send Fawkes, he could bring a message with two hundred galleons and she could send back the plants. I did her a favor in the other timeline but she won't know that here. She is not a rich woman so the money would be welcome, especially this close to Christmas."

"I'll go get the money and you write the letter. I need to see these plants before Christmas is here. I need time to get something else if it doesn't work." Harry strode out of the room as Becca called an elf for parchment and quill. She shook her head at Harry; he still wasn't used to living with elves. He could have called one to bring a sack of money.

When he came back, Fawkes was ready with the parchment tied to his leg waiting for Harry to bring the payment so the bird could go on his journey.

About an hour later Fawkes flashed in to the pool area and placed his heavy burden on the floor, and then flew to his perch by the pool. He liked to spend time next to the paintings of the palm trees, it might not be the real thing but it was soothing none the less. Becca, Harry and The Seven were still swimming and having a good time, all the while Harry worrying about Severus' present. When the bird flashed in Harry was under the water and didn't here him come back. Once he came to the surface, Becca got his attention by splashing him and hollering. "It's here."

"What's here?

"The plants silly, they are here. Fawkes just got back, and oh there is a note with the box." While Becca was picking up the note, Harry was looking at the huge box of plants that was gracing a square meter of the floor. It was a good thing they sent a phoenix and not an owl. Harry opened the box and looked at the flowers with in. They were some kind of lily. "Becca, what are these flowers?" They were beautiful flowers, white with an emerald green accent. The green was at its brightest and darkest in the center of the flower, but lightened as it streaked to the end of the petals. The green in the flower reminded him of the color of his eyes.

"It is called a Healing Marsh Lily, and they are extremely useful in healing potions. They are very potent and very valuable. It looks as if she sent twice as much as we paid for. Let me read the letter," she said indicating the parchment in her hand. As Becca read the letter, Harry was rubbing over the scar on his hand wondering if it could heal old injuries as well. He didn't think about it often but he still hated the scar 'I must not tell lies'.

Becca noticed Harry looking at the horrible scar that toad of a woman forced him to etch into his skin with the blood quill.

"Harry, didn't anyone tell you to use lavender oil on that scar? Even muggles use lavender oil for healing and reducing and removing scars, I am sure you have some in your bathroom."

Harry looked at her dumb founded and shook his head no. "I don't remember hearing anything like that. Does it really work?"

"Sure, and if you mix it with a little oil from the leaf or petals of one of these lilies, it might even be gone before Christmas. We have a week yet."

"Do you think we could give one of these to my mother for Christmas? I know it can't be from me but I would like to know I gave her something."

"I'm sure we can make that happen." Becca smiled at him.


	32. Happy Christmas

Posted 14 October 2009

Chapter 32: Happy Christmas

It was Christmas Eve and Harry, Severus and the rest of the gang were in the sitting room having a good time putting up decorations. Harry, who had never been allowed to join the festivities at the Dursley's, wanted the feel of doing it himself, instead of giving the job to the house elves. Severus and Regulus indulged him by sitting and watching while Becca got into the festivities full swing. She was now two months pregnant and still had morning sickness but she loved being in the middle of something that was exciting. Harry was energized with all the muggle lights and the tree he had bought.

He was still amazed at the way he was able to go to the shopping mall (unbeknownst to Severus) and not have to travel out in the open where he and Becca could be recognized, or worse, attacked.

When Becca had first given them a tour of the manor, she had pointed out three escape routes to the muggle world. These were a last resort in case they were attacked. "Always have a contingency plan" she had told him in response to his question of "Why?". To him they were as safe as possible under a muggle neighborhood, in an underground fortress without all the extra precautions.

They had taken a door to an underground tunnel. In the tunnel was a sort of golf cart that ran on electricity or magic; much like the ones at Gringotts. They took the cart to the end of the tunnel and found an elevator that went up to a muggle shopping mall. This was really nice. Harry had asked her why they hadn't gone shopping sooner. Becca had shrugged and said they had been so busy, she hadn't thought about it.

Harry went wild. It was a good thing he had his credit card with him, because he bought all kinds of decorations for the manor. It was the first time he would be able to decorate his own home and he wanted to do it right. As they went from shop to shop, Harry would go into the men's room and shrink his packages before going into another store and getting more items. He had given a brief thought about underage magic, but figured the Ministry wouldn't be able to find him anyway if they kept moving.

When they left, Harry had bought all the decorations they would need (probably for the next ten years, Becca thought) and also some gifts for the elves that worked in the manor and even some live mice for the snakes. He thought they would appreciate live food once in a while.

As they went back to the elevator and used a hidden panel to get to the underground entrance, Becca saw the big smile on Harry's face and decided it was worth tagging along just to see him that happy. When they had gotten back to the manor, Harry hid all the packages until they could have an old fashioned decorating party.

Even Gorbink and some of his family came to visit for a short while. It was strange to see the young and older goblins that were the same people from the different time periods but they worked well together and the younger Gorbink's family pledged to do all they could so that the other timeline would not repeat itself. What was really strange, or maybe not so strange, was Griphook was another member of the family, Harry's goblin that served him the first time he went to Gringotts. As Harry recounted the meeting between him and Griphook and the first time he rode in a cart, the goblins were honored that the young man felt so highly of him. As a rule goblins were looked down upon by wizards and never remembered by name or transaction.

At midnight, the Christmas Eve festivities and decorating party came to an end. Everyone was looking forward to the next day and wanted to be up bright and early. It was a day of celebration and even the Prince Conglomerate employees were having a good day as everyone was given a nice Christmas bonus even though some areas had not been in operation long. The Prince family was celebrating in a big way, even if in hiding from the rest of the wizarding world. Regulus was of course included in that as he didn't want to die at the hands of Voldemort. He knew they were looking for him, he had seen a friend of his while out doing business for the company, and although he would love to see his mother, he wanted more to keep everyone safe.

The next day was Christmas and one hundred and three books were delivered in green Christmas paper to the main pureblood households of the wizarding world that were known Voldemort supporters or followers All of them dropped mysteriously on the doorstep with a peck or hoot at the door. The elves, picking up the packages, checked for curses, hexes and poisons and finding none put the present under the tree for the family members.

The couple had dressed that morning in identical green silk shirts and black slacks. They wore identical style basilisk skin boots and even the belts were the same. They had not planned it that way, but when they ordered something to wear for Christmas, the elves evidently thought it would be cute. They had laughed about it when they saw what the other was wearing that morning after they had dressed.

In the Prince household, there were many presents under the tree and even some for the elves that served in the manor. Most were small presents for acquaintances and friends but nothing extravagant. Severus gave Harry a book on parsletongue magic and when Harry presented Severus with his flowers, still blooming in their boxes Severus was ecstatic.

"Where did you get these Harry? They are almost impossible to come by. They grow wild in the marsh of the southern U.S. and the hurricanes keep destroying them. They are beautiful; you must have paid a fortune for them."

"Actually, Becca helped me. She knew someone that lived near them and we contacted her and bought them. I won't tell you what we paid, but they were a bargain. I am glad you like them. Becca said they were good for healing potions."

"Not just good, they are excellent for healing potions. I am honored you went to so much trouble for me." Severus kissed Harry and quietly told him he had another present for him later. Harry kissed him back and said he was more than ready.

A house elf came at the same time and spoke with Severus quietly while the rest of the group was conversing about holidays past and future. Several of the gifts under the tree were for the little one coming at the end of July. There was a cradle and the mobile and the stuffed animals and all sorts of toys. He wasn't even born yet and Evan had lots of toys and gifts for his room. Severus excused himself from the crowd and told them he would be right back. He went to the reception area on the first level to greet his guest.

Remus was standing there after the elf had told him to wait a moment. He looked around the area but realized the rest of the manor was warded off. When Remus had been hired, Severus offered him a generous salary with a company apartment and the elves. He had never felt so pampered and wished he knew how to thank them for their generosity. But when he mentioned that to another one of the employees, he had been told they treated all the workers that way and not to feel like he was singled out or given special treatment. Double checking in a mirror to make sure he still looked presentable, he took in his finely tailored silk crimson robes and the silk hunter green shirt underneath. Yes, maybe it was a little over the top, but it was Christmas and he wanted to celebrate in a way he never had before. All Prince Conglomerate employees were given carte blanche to buy clothes at cost in the Fashion section. So for them it cost less to dress in acromantula silk than blue jeans, if one were buying blue jeans on the market. Prince Fashions actually made all manner of clothes even high end muggle clothing. After about five minutes, Severus came into the room. "Happy Christmas, Remus. Good day so far?" Remus smiled and shook his hand. He really liked this Severus and he hoped the other one would grow into a similar individual. Of course this one didn't have to deal with the dark mark. He knew Voldemort sometimes tortured his followers through that mark.

"I would like you to come and meet the family. They are down two levels so we will have to take the elevator." Severus had started for one of the many locked doors when he turned around in puzzlement to face his employee again. Remus was still in the same spot and had not moved and he wondered if something was wrong.

The younger man was a little shocked at the word elevator and raised an eyebrow. "This is a muggle facility?" His incredulous look would have been comical if he weren't half right.

"Not exactly, let's just say as in the company, we take the best of muggle and wizard and mix the two for the best combination." The older man smirked at him and indicated with a jerk of his head for Remus to follow.

He nodded and followed Severus as he used the computer recognition software with the palm of his hand pressed against a plate on the wall and stated his name for the voice print activation. The name he stated though was Severs Masterson Prince but Remus thought this was possibly an alias because of there being two of them in this time. Then the elevator went to the next level and they had to get out of one elevator, go to another reception area. He saw the heated pool and the beautiful murals surrounding the pool. It was the most beautiful site he had ever seen in a house. Then turned to another door to a second elevator and there in front of the door was a snake.

"Is… is that a basilisk?" Remus asked, not so sure he wanted to be here now. How many people had a pet snake and a basilisk at that? Didn't they know the snake could kill if it looked into your eyes? He turned his head so as to not look at the slithering animal on the floor blocking their way.

"Oh yes, we have several. They protect the family and some of them are the familiars of other family members. This one is called First Born and belongs to my mate. He must have sensed a stranger in the house and came to investigate." Severus was so used to having them around that he didn't even think about Remus being uncomfortable around them.

"Will he attack?" Remus asked as he gave the snake a wide berth.

"Not unless you attack first." Severus smirked

"I will keep that in mind." Remus walked around the snake and got into the elevator Severus indicated.

When they got to the next and last level, they could hear cheerful chatter coming from a large sitting room. Remus noticed that there were more snakes in front of the fireplace and several adults in various chairs around the room. When he walked in he saw one young man go white in the face and look at Severus. Severus caught Harry's eye and shook his head as an indication the former werewolf did not know who Harry was and everything would be alright. He smiled and introduced Remus to the rest of the group.

"Hi everyone, this is Remus Lupin. He took our werewolf cure about ten days ago. He now works in getting other werewolves the potion and helping them secure employment. Remus, I want you to meet some of the others that belong to the Prince Conglomerate Family. My mate is Harry Prince, next to him is Becca Prince, next is Doc he runs the medical facility we just put into use, Shashi handles some of the publishing and also does some of the paperwork at the medical facility. The others are healers Acubi, Kyia, Hymnia and last but not least, hiding in the corner is someone I think you already know." He paused then said. "Regulus Black." Severus turned to Harry and said. "I wanted it to be a surprise love. This is why I was in the lab brewing the werewolf cure and having meetings."

Harry jumped up shouting "Yes!" while hugging his mate. He shouted so loud Severus had to pull back as it hurt his ears. "Sorry Sev." The younger man said contritely. "I didn't mean to scream in your ear. I was just excited that you did this so soon."

At the same time Harry and Severus were having their conversation another shout was heard in the room. "Reg!" Remus shouted. He never expected to see his best mate's brother in this place. "What are you doing here?" He gave Reg a big hug, happy to see someone he had thought was missing and presumed dead.

"I handle certain acts of distribution of certain publications that went out this morning to certain people that we know are following a certain individual." Reg said cryptically, but then pulling Remus to the side of the room, changed his tone to emphasis the seriousness of what he was going to say next. "They saved my life, Rem, I owe them much." Then Reg rolled up his sleeve and showed him the smooth white skin on his forearm. "They took it away Remus. I Am Free." Regulus stressed the last three words as if they were precious gold.

Remus gave him another hug and asked "Am I allowed to mention this to Sirius? He would be so happy to know and I will be seeing him later today at the Potter's." At the mention of the Potter's, Harry jerked his head up to hear what was being said. He hadn't been able to see his parents even from a distance and wished he could talk to them. But he knew he couldn't, it was one of the conditions of coming back to this point.

It was Severus who answered Remus' question. "You may tell Sirius his brother is safe, you may not tell him where he is or who we are. I know this might cause some problems with your friends, but we need Regulus to stay safe and let's just say that the certain someone that has certain followers is after Reg for getting away."

"Not telling someone where he is won't be a problem as I don't know where we are. I can understand your wanting to stay cautious but I don't think even MI6 or the whole department of aurors could get through here." Remus would have laughed at his joke if it weren't so accurate. "This place was a fortress."

"Just tell them I am safe and will be in touch when things are more secure." Regulus added. "Tell Sirius I have seen the light and this is a Slytherin matter."

"Why do you not join Dumbledore and combine forces?" Remus asked everyone in the room. He watched as they all slightly cringed. "He is working hard for the light side and the destruction of Voldemort. If you joined forces, we might be able to see the end of the war much sooner." The former werewolf felt he had to defend the headmaster that had helped him go to school.

"Read the dedication page to our book, and then ask that question. We cannot say more as it would compromise our position." Harry was the one that said this. He wanted to answer Remus' question but it was not the right time yet.

Remus looked a little puzzled but then nodded. "I will respect your wishes and not say anything. I thank you for trusting me thus far and for everything you have done for me."

"Remus, you don't have to thank us. Here we believe every being be it human, goblin or elf or something else has something to contribute. If we all contribute to benefit each other everybody wins." Harry assured him.

About a half hour later, Remus stood up and addressed everyone in the room. "I would like to visit again when I have more time, I am sorry that I must leave as I have another engagement to attend with friends." Remus then turned to address Regulus. "Reg, I will see Sirius and tell him you are fine and in hiding. He will be happy to hear what you have told me." Remus looked at Severus and asked. "Could you tell me how to get out of here so I can visit James and Lily? They have invited me to Christmas Dinner."

Becca jumped up and spoke to Remus for the first time since introductions. "Wait, we have a present for you." She ran to the tree and grabbed a small box from under the tree. Inside the box was a jar of scar reducing salve she and Harry had whipped up after the flowers came. It really worked on Harry's scar and she thought Remus could use some too as according to Harry; he suffered numerous wounds on days he transformed.

"This is something Harry and I made. The instructions are on the inside. Let us know how it works." Remus graciously accepted the gift, wanting to give something in return but Severus said under no circumstances was he to bring any presents. The gift had no name on it so he assumed they must have put extra presents under the tree for anyone that happened to come. He wondered what was in the box that could need instructions.

Severus stopped him as well and gave him one of the lilies, "Please give this to our mutual friend." He glanced at Harry to see if he agreed and saw a huge smiling grin plastered on his face at the thought.

Remus, with a fond expression, gave his consent with an indication of his head and shook everyone's hand and bid them farewell. He took the portkey from Severus and was pulled away back to his apartment, ready for his next stop.

At the end of the meal, the guests left for their own homes including Regulus going to his quarters, so the three adults and seven snakes were left alone in the sitting room. Becca looked like she wanted to retire for the evening after the heavy meal, and actually looked like she had fallen asleep in the chair where she was. Severus gently woke her and helped her to the bedroom then went back to the sitting room to spend time with Harry.

Severus stood in the doorway watching his mate. He wanted to ask him something, something important and he didn't know how to go about it. He still realized Harry was too young to be involved with an old man like him and could find someone younger, but he loved Harry with all his heart and could promise his younger mate that he would never leave him. Severus sat down on the sofa, a little away from the green eyed beauty just to be able to see him properly. Harry seemed to be lost in thought and barely knew the older man was in the room.

"Harry?" Severus approached him quietly. Harry startled and jerked his head in the direction of that softly spoken voice, tense and unsure of himself. When he become conscious of the fact it was Severus beside him, he visibly relaxed. Severus raised an eyebrow in that signature facial expression of a query and waited for Harry to come back to earth.

"I don't know where your mind was, but you look serious about something. Care to share?"

The younger man shook his head as if to clear away his thoughts and said, "Just thinking about Remus and Sirius. They are having dinner with my parents and I can't even tell anyone who I am. It's harder than I thought to be here sometimes."

"I'm sorry if my inviting Remus here has upset you, it was not my intention. You had said it would be a really nice Christmas gift to be able to give Remus the werewolf's cure and I was hoping to make you happy, not sad." Severus took the hand closest to him and held it in both of his own.

"Harry, love there is something I want to do before the day is over; I have that one last gift for you." Severus started to say as he tried to calm the nerves jumping inside his stomach.

"But, I thought Remus was the other present that you were talking about. When I saw him come in, I was hoping he was going to take the potion, but you actually gave him a job. I am so proud of you for putting away all the animosity between the marauders and you."

"I did it for you Harry; I knew it was important to you." Severus started to rub his lover's hand and noticed something odd but couldn't place it. He put it to the back of his mind and started once again to broach the subject that he had begun when he came into the room. As he sat on the leather sofa he struggled with his courage to say what he had wanted to say for a while now.

"Harry, I know you are young and could find someone better, but I wanted to know…" Severus pulled out a small box from his pocket before continuing his question, "If you will marry me." Severus was concentrating on their intertwined fingers and didn't look into Harry's face immediately, until he felt wet splashes on the back of his hand and forced his head up to see the expression on the face of his soul mate. Harry didn't look happy, he looked…

A/N Thank you to everyone who sent a review. I do try to answer them all if there is an email address available. The next chapter is finished and just needs a little tweaking before I can post it. I now have over two hundred different people on story alert or a favorite author or story. Thank you so much for the support and I hope you continue to enjoy the story. This is my first fanfic or actually story of any kind and you support is truely valuable.


	33. A Visit with the Potters

Posted 15 October 2009

A/N Alright everyone, here is another chapter. But I have to confess, an evil plot bunny tied me up to overtake me while I was writing this. That bunny just started typing into my computer and wouldn't let me go until after it was posted. But to make up for my not being attentive in watching out for the evil plot bunny, I will have another chapter up tomorrow to make up for it. OK? The next one I assure you will be about Harry and Severus.

Chapter 33: A Visit with the Potters

When Remus flooed into Potter manor he found Sirius, James and Lily sitting in the living room waiting for his arrival. The former werewolf had already sent the elves, hours prior, after arranging with the only female marauder to give her some help. They greeted him with exuberant hugs upon his arrival.

"Hey, Remus!" Sirius called out. "How have you been doing? What's new in your life?" Before his arrival, the three had been sitting trying to conclude what had happened since they had last seen their old friend. They were afraid his dark nature had taken over and he had joined Voldemort or one of his followers as he was a werewolf and no one would hire him. He was always poor and wearing old patched clothes but they had all loved him like a brother. But when he walked into the spacious room, he had on nice wizard's robes of the finest quality and carrying several presents in his arms. It was a strange sight and they wanted to know where the money was coming from, but didn't want to offend their friend.

"Hi Sirius, there is much that is new. I'd love to sit down and tell you about it, but first, Lily is there anything I can do to help with dinner or anything you need?" Remus asked this question as he handed her the healing lily that Severus had given him for her.

"No Remus, your elves have taken over the kitchen and won't let us in there. What have you got there?" Lily took the plant from Remus, just as she was about to give him a simple thank him she cried out in exclamation.

"Oh Remus, it's a Healing Marsh Lily, where ever did you get it? They are very rare and so beautiful. Thank you so much."

"I can't take credit for it; I saw them and asked a friend about them. His mate had given him several for Christmas and he gave me one when I told him I had a friend named Lily." He held out his other arm with the presents he had brought them. "These actually are my presents for you." Remus handed each of his friends the wrapped books and a box of the new robes from Prince Fashions. He hoped they would like them.

"Wow, Remmy, where did you get these? They must have cost a fortune. What have you been doing lately?" James said as he opened the box with the new robes. "I don't think I have ever seen robes like these!"

When Lily had opened her package, she found witch's robes of the finest quality, and then noticed they would adjust with her pregnancy. They were of the brightest and richest color green to match her eyes and had a wonderful cut to them. She thanked Remus along with James.

"Before I tell you, open the other present." Remus said cryptically. He watched as the three of them opened the books. They noticed that all three books were the same and Sirius just had to joke with him.

"What, couldn't think of something different?"

"Sirius read the title." He waited as his old school friend's looked more closely at the book.

"You gave me a book about Voldemort? Are you crazy or trying to convert me? Remus Lupin, what have you gotten yourself into? This book is about Voldemort and I don't appreciate the significance of this." Sirius was shouting about now and Remus and the others flinched at the high pitched noise he was making.

"Sirius, calm down, will you? It does not advocate anything about Voldemort; it tells the truth about him, the real truth. Where he came from, who he really is and what he's really doing. You will like the book, believe me. I brought it because you need to know what it says. Don't let the title deceive you Siri, you need to read this." Remus looked into his friends' disbelieving eyes and sighed. Sirius was so quick to judge and jump to conclusions before knowing all the facts. Remus sighed again and said. "I saw someone today that you should know about." All eyes were firmly fixed on him now, not quite knowing where he was going with that statement, "I saw Regulus Black."

Everyone was silent for a minute as they stared at Remus as if he had grown another head. But then someone got their voice back, "What! What did you do, go to a Death Eater meeting?" Sirius snarled and was getting hysterically angry now. "We have not heard from my brother in over a month and you are saying you saw him? Where?" Remus knew Sirius was worried about his brother but he did not know Reg had left Voldemort's circle of followers.

"Sirius, you need to calm down and listen. Your brother went against his master, all the Death Eaters are now after him for defying that beast. The people I work for don't follow Voldemort any more than you do. Regulus is in hiding and working for these people too. I met him today at a Christmas feast I was invited to but didn't stay for. At least read the dedication page in that book. Maybe you will understand."

Sirius turned to the dedication page and read it. "What does this mean?"

"It means what it says. These people have made a cure for lycanthropy. I am no longer a werewolf. The reason I don't look so ill today, is because I no longer have to fight with or change into the werewolf. Regulus no longer bears the dark mark on his arm. These people are powerful; I have never seen anything like it. They have the cunning of Slytherin, the loyalty to each other, and other beings, of Hufflepuff, the courage of Gryffindor to do what is right and defy the rules set by others when they are unfair and the knowledge of Ravenclaw of what to do with their information. Regulus told me to tell you he is safe for now, he has seen the light and 'it is a Slytherin matter' what ever that means."

"He really said that?" Sirius was at least listening somewhat. "It means he is doing the Slytherin thing and staying safe and using cunning and stealth. It means that it is of the utmost secrecy and will be revealed when it is safe. It also means that it is a life or death situation, which cannot be revealed at this time. It was something our grandfather would say sometimes."

"Just who is this group that you are talking about? I have never heard of such a group and with these expensive presents I worry that you are working for Malfoy or someone like him." James accused him.

"I don't know how to prove that you are wrong. First, Malfoy would never hire a werewolf nor try to cure one. I can't tell you who these people are; I can only tell you I have never seen wizards like these before. They title their house elves; they ally themselves with light elves and dark elves and half bloods and muggleborns and werewolves and goblins and whomever else they deem worthy. They value honesty and caring, they have research centers, and a publishing house and a fashion house and probably a bunch of other investments I don't know about. They gave me a job, and not because they cured my lycanthropy and coerced me into it, but because they genuinely wanted to help others. Their only request was to get a promise to not join Voldemort." Remus ran out of breath and wondered it he had given them too much information. He almost let it slip that he thought they were building their own army by keeping everyone away from Voldemort, but his magic flared inside him and he kept his mouth shut. Just at that moment an elf popped in and announced dinner.

"Thank you Valet Nixy, we will be right there." Remus had addressed the elf and the elf bowed by a small nod of the head and popped back out. Lily thought nothing of it, not having grown up with them, but James and Sirius were speechless at the manner in which Remus addressed the elf and the elf accepted it without comment. He was not exuberant, he spoke very properly and he did not bow to the floor as other elves. Where did Remus get him?

"About the elves," Remus was explaining. "They come with the job, I don't own them. They are owned by the company. I often work late hours and sometimes go on business trips and the people I work for want me to be as comfortable and as productive as possible. They said if I didn't have to take care of the small things and concentrated on the big projects I can get more done faster and it keeps the elves busy too." Remus saw James and Sirius raise their eyebrows at that and start to say something before Lily interrupted.

"They have been a great help to me today and I want you to know how much I appreciate it." As she was talking she elbowed James in his side so he chirped up with a "Yeah, thanks."

The four of them entered the dining room where the elves had out done themselves. The table was brimming with all kinds of the traditional foods, and some that were more muggle than wizard. The place settings had gold trim around the plates, saucers and tea cups and the flatware was gold. The table covering, what little you could see of it, was an embroidered white lace with red and green bells around the edges. There was a bottle of wine sitting on the side, already opened to breathe, waiting to be served. The room was as spacious as the living room. Since Remus flooed in he hadn't seen the outside to determine how large the house really was.

Along the walls there were boughs of holly and pine with little red bows every meter or so. The room looked beautiful and everyone stopped to appreciate the time it had taken for Lily to decorate.

The four friends had a very nice time eating and conversing as they hadn't been able to do since school. As if by mutual agreement, they kept the conversation light and didn't speak of the war, the books Remus brought, Regulus, or anything else that might cause another scene. This was Lily's first big Christmas in a home of their own as all the other Christmases were at James' parents' house who had died earlier that year.

As they went back into the living room, while the men continued their discussion on Quidditch, Lily sat on the sofa next to James, thumbing through the book that she had been given. None of the men were even paying attention to her until she hit James in the arm and exclaimed, "Remus, did you read this book yet?" At Remus' nod she exclaimed again, "James, there is a chapter in here on muggleborns and it says they don't really exist. It goes into an explanation of genetics and says that most witches and wizards considered muggleborns are really born from squibs. It says there is an inheritance test we should take at Gringotts or other private clinic to see who we are related to."

"Remus, is this true?" James asked his friend.

"I told you, you would find the book interesting if you read it." Remus said dryly not really answering his friend's question.

"One thing about this book, it really makes sense in a lot of things concerning the wizarding world. I wonder who else received this book today." Lily was actually just thinking out loud but Remus answered her.

"Over one hundred pureblood homes that are known Voldemort supporters or followers." Remus said very matter of fact.

Lily gasped, James raised his head up with a jerk from the page he was reading and Sirius just looked at him and said, "Say that again?"

"I said…" he started to reiterate.

But James interrupted this time "Never mind, we heard you. Really Sirius, do I need to clean your ears out?"

"No, I just couldn't believe what I am hearing. How did these people know who to send the book to if they aren't death eaters?"

"I can't really say much Sirius. If any information leaked out about these people, then they wouldn't have the advantage. I do, however, believe it is a truly Slytherin matter." Remus replied.

Sirius' face broke out in a big grin and he started whooping and jumping around the room. "You mean my brother…"

"I didn't say that, I don't work in publishing and so don't know anything and it needs to remain that way." The statement was more a suggestion to drop the subject. The other three adults in the room respected the unspoken request but continued to further study the book.

Lily spoke up again. "I am going to firecall Gringotts tomorrow, the book suggested we make an appointment."

"Why?" James snapped. "I didn't have to when I had my inheritance proven."

"Actually dear," Lily opened the book and showed him something on the page. "It says if everyone who received this book went without an appointment, Gringotts might revolt. I can't say as I would blame them. Can you imagine the panic and chaos if twenty or thirty people went in at the same time? Just call our account head tomorrow and let him know what we want. What was his name?"

"Griphook or Gorbink, they always serve me when I go there."

"I wonder if any other muggleborns have received this information." The only woman in the room turned to the former werewolf. "Do you know Remus?"

"As I said before, I don't work in the publishing division but I do know that the people I work for will make this information available to everyone. The books they sent out this morning were sent at their own expense but they will be on sale tomorrow until the ministry shuts them down or Voldemort attacks. There will be some interesting fireworks soon."

Sirius brought up another subject again, "I still don't understand why they are not joining Dumbledore. If they are against Voldemort, they should be working with our side."

"When I posed that question, I was told to read the dedication page of that book. I don't understand it either unless they are just waiting for a better time. As it is, this book is the best blow to Voldemort I could have ever dreamed of and not one single hex or curse was fired to do it. I have to wonder why no one else has done this. They can't be the only ones with this information."

"Yes, well I wonder what the good old dark lord has to say about this. He must be fuming by now." James speculated.

"I'm sure he is not happy about it but there is no way to find the publishing house or how it was distributed. These people cover their tracks better than any aurors I have ever seen and they keep their secrets very close."

"With this kind of knowledge, they would have to. How do you think they did it?" James was asking this time.

"If I had to guess, I would say it might be rehabilitated death eaters. I mean, they are well funded and that almost always means pureblood money, but they don't act like purebloods so I don't know for sure. They are very inventive and they know how to hide and keep their secrets. But no one I have ever seen has the mark so maybe it's the families that were not marked; however Regulus did say his mark was taken away and I saw the unmarked skin on his forearm." Remus explained. "This is all just speculation however; you don't want to spread it as Merlin's truth."

"Yeah, there seems to be an awful lot of speculation lately." Lily said thoughtfully. "We will have to see what happens. I am anxious to see what the Goblins have to say about my muggleborn status."

"Well my friends, I am going to need to leave soon it is getting very late. It was wonderful being here today Lily, James and good to see you also Sirius." Remus started saying his goodbyes but then remembered. "Oh, I have one more gift for the family, Valet Nixy!"

The elf came and slightly bowed to the man with a "What may Valet Nixy do for you sir?"

"I need you to pop over home and get the box for the unborn Potter."

"Right away, Master Remus.

As the elf popped out to do Remus' bidding, the werewolf was explaining. "I have something for the infant that I thought you might be able to use when you set up his room."

The elf popped back into the room, dragging a large toy box of sorts and left it with Remus.

Everyone thought they had gotten all their surprises already but here was one more. The box appeared to be made of some kind of black substance covered over with some kind of snake skin. It was a most amazing piece of work and everyone wanted to know what it could possibly be.

Remus, as with the other gifts, had to explain this one "This is a toy chest for now. It is made with acromantula shells and lined with basilisk skin. It is surprising light weight but when a master spells it shut, no one else can get it open. It has several compartments that are multi level but I would think the young one would be too small to appreciate that yet. It will however easily transport. It can be used as a toy box, or even be a trunk for school later on. One word of caution; it is spelled so no living thing can crawl into it and hide. You would never hear it if a kid or a pet got in there and the lid closed. The child could suffocate and never be found. Don't remove the safety features." Remus warned and then continued.

"Also, you will find a book of new wizard children's stories in the trunk along with a blanket and what ever else the elves decided to put in there. I think there may be some small baby wizard robes and other clothes in neutral unisex colors; you can take a look later. If James and Sirius are really itching to see what the trunk can withstand, they could take it outside and start firing at it to try and make it crack. In fact I promise to bring the baby another one if they break that one."

The two pranksters did just that. They threw hexes and curses at it, and the box budged a few inches but other than that didn't move or crack open. Then they gave up. "Ok Remus, That's stronger that anything I've ever seen. Those employers of yours sure have an awful lot of new ideas. One doesn't build a company in just a month, how long have they been in business? I have never seen nor heard of any of these products." Remus had to decline to answer; actually he didn't really know how long Prince Conglomerate had been in business, it was one of those carefully guarded secrets.

When they had returned to the living room and were sitting drinking tea, Remus told his friends again he would need to leave soon; he had been convinced to stay a while longer the first time. He paused and turned to Lily and said, "When you know the baby's name let me know and I will spell the initials on the trunk."

"Oh," Lily replied excitedly "we forgot to tell you. Last week we found out the baby is a boy and we will name him Harry, Harry James Potter." She said with some pride.

Remus was in the middle of drinking his last swallow of tea and choked spitting a portion of what was in his mouth back into the cup. "I'm sorry, did you say Harry?" He had to quickly school his face so the others would not see the look of shock that had to be clearly stamped across his countenance. Somehow he knew this had to have something to do with the same Harry he met earlier. It was a common enough name among muggles but not so much in the wizarding world.

"Remus, are you alright? What happened?" Lily asked in concern.

"Nothing, tea went down the wrong way, I'm fine" The former werewolf's voice was a little rough and he swallowed and tried again to speak. "So, would you like HP or HJP stamped on his trunk?" Remus posed the question as soon as he could school his speech without choking or cause his friends to question him further.

"I would like it to be HJP I think." Lily decided with a smile on her face. So in deference to her wishes Remus used the spell the goblins had given him to put the initials of the unborn child on the top of the trunk. He wondered what this child might have to do with a certain young man he had met earlier, that had been introduced as the soul mate of the man who had surely saved him.

Remus took his leave of his friends telling everyone to send him an owl if they needed anything and that he would be back to visit. Then entering the floo he softly spoke his destination and was gone in a flash of green flames.

Sirius was watching him leave and as soon as he was sure the former werewolf was truly gone turned to his other two friends. "I don't care what anyone says," he ground out angrily "no one gives up being a Death Eater, no one." He started pacing the room. "Someone needs to tell Dumbledore what is going on and get that werewolf back on track. Anyone who has this kind of knowledge" he picked up the book as he was speaking "and doesn't side with the light, either has their own agenda or some kind of ulterior motives." Sirius scowled again. "Did you see the robes he was wearing? Did you look at the robes he brought us? Did you check for any kind of tracking spells? We need to do this right now, we don't want anyone following us to Order meetings or if we are in hiding. We need to get Dumbledore in here and ask him if he knows what is going on."

But Sirius was wrong, when they checked the robes there were no tracking spells, or foreign substances on them. There were no curses on the fabric; it was just a very fine quality of one hundred percent acromantula silk.


	34. A Proposal and a Kiss

Thank you guys for all the reviews. The evil plot bunny is now gone, a good Fairy Godmother plot bunny came and waved her magic wand to make it go away. So now, on with the story…

Posted 16 October 2009

Chapter 34: A Proposal and a Kiss

Severus looked at Harry and instead of a happy grin he saw tears and anguish. His heart was pounding like thunder as it was breaking in two, and he couldn't even get a word out to ask Harry what was wrong. They had bonded, they loved each other and they were soulmates, but his lover was not happy and he couldn't fathom why. They had a child on the way and he wanted to marry before the birth of their son so they could be a proper family. He didn't understand what was wrong and he wanted to know why Harry wouldn't marry him. He started to get up to leave his anguished lover where he was; he needed to go to another room so he could think about this. Their lives were so intertwined; he didn't know how to live without his Harry and how to raise their son if they weren't together. He had to think, he had to plan a life without him but he was so lost he couldn't think beyond the fact that Harry, his Harry didn't want him.

As he started to stand up, the younger man still had a hold of his hand and pulled him back down to the sofa they were sitting on. It surprised Severus so much he was taken off guard and nearly fell instead of sitting down gracefully. Even with the horror stricken face, Harry was looking at him intently. Then he whispered one word.

"Why?"

Severus just looked at him with a stunned expression and asked. "Why, what Harry?"

"Why would you want to marry me?"

The question took him by such surprise that he didn't answer immediately. Severus blinked a few times as he stared at the man in front of him.

"Why would you ask that? We are soulmates, we have bonded and we have a child on the way. It's the next step in our relationship."

"Why?" Harry asked again.

Severus could only think of one more reason, just one more thing to say. "Because I love you and want to be with you." Even now he couldn't explain what this conversation was costing him and his heart felt like it was squeezing all the life out of his body.

Tears were falling down Harry's face again. He didn't know if Severus was telling the truth. The two men were not as close this past week and Harry felt like Severus was just asking him to marry because he felt obligated to do it. Severus watched as his lover's conflicted emotions flashed across his face. It was time to get some answers.

"Harry, look at me." The older man addressed him firmly. "Tell me what is going through that head of yours."

"I don't want you proposing marriage just because you feel obligated. You don't have to marry me or stay bonded to me if you don't want to. We will find a way to raise Evan without us being together. I would want to be with him, but I want you to be happy and don't want you stuck with me." As Harry started to talk, all the words came rushing out and he couldn't seem to stop.

"You haven't been around as much and you changed the way we have sex, you got rougher and I thought it was because you were bored with me or needed something I couldn't give you. I didn't understand at first but then realized you didn't really want to be with me and resented having to love me and so you… well you know, everything changed. It didn't seem as if you wanted to be around me as much. You even came to bed after I was asleep so you didn't have to talk to me and recently you got up a few times before I woke up. You closed yourself off from me; I couldn't feel the bond anymore. I used to get feelings from you and sometimes I knew what you were thinking but now I can't. You shielded me from knowing what you were feeling and so I thought you didn't want me to know you were tired of me and wanted something better." The tears, once again started leaking out of those beautiful eyes that Severus so adored and he saw the anguish settle once more on the face of his lover. He had been such a fool.

Severus didn't understand everything that was going on, but he did know one thing, if Harry was this upset about thinking he was not loved by the older man anymore, then it was not a case of not wanting to be together. It was a series of misunderstandings that had not been spoken and Severus was at fault. He had forgotten that this was an area where Harry was still very young. In all the abuse and growing up he had done, a loving relationship was not one of his mature areas. He was going to have to teach the young man how to have a real rapport with someone you loved. He wasn't sure how to do that himself, but for the sake of their marriage, he was going to find a way.

Severus sat more resolutely on the sofa and put his arm around Harry's back and another under his legs. He then picked up the younger man and settled him firmly across his legs while placing Harry's arms around his neck and putting his longer arms around Harry's waist. He held him until the tears from the emerald eyes stopped flowing. Taking a handkerchief from his pocket, he gave it to Harry so he could clean up his face a little and blow his nose. Then he spoke.

"Love, I didn't know you were feeling this way, why didn't you tell me?" Severus spoke softly to the younger man.

"You haven't been to bed on time; you… you waited till I was asleep to come. I… I thought you were avoiding me." He only mumbled the last bit, but Severus still heard him. Harry was actually starting to feel better now that he was in Severus' arms.

"No, my love, I was working in the potions lab. I thought you knew that, all you had to do was come and join me. I would never want to avoid you or refuse your company. I was making the werewolf's cure and got tied up with trying to keep up with the orders Remus has been sending." Severus was glad they were having this conversation now. Hopefully he could get to the bottom of the problems Harry was having accepting himself, as well as making him realize that he was worthy to be loved.

"But you were bored with me, you changed and you…" Harry couldn't put into words his next problem but Severus understood. Harry sighed and laid his head on Severus' shoulder, he hiccupped a few times, still trying to retain control of the tears that were still at the surface trying to break through.

"No, my love, I was not bored with you. I forgot you don't know a lot about sex and didn't take time to explain it, but I was never bored. I had thought you were enjoying yourself, if I ever do anything you don't enjoy you only have to say so."

"I was enjoying it until I thought I wasn't exciting enough and experienced enough to make you happy. Then you blocked the bond and I couldn't reach you telepathically either." Severus tightened his arms around his lover. He was happy to hear his lover enjoyed himself because he really wanted Harry to explore other avenues of pleasure with him; he just needed to take things a little slower. He was forgetting that just two months ago the young man was a virgin. He started carding his hand through Harry's wild hair, taking comfort that he was still here in his lap, allowing Severus to hold him.

"Oh Harry, you will always make me happy and if for some reason you don't we will always talk about it and discuss it together. I promise. I didn't block the bond because I stopped loving you, I just wanted to surprise you with Remus being cured and didn't want you to know what I was doing." Severus vowed to his mate.

"You promise?" Harry asked hesitantly

"I promise." The older man smiled and looked into the green gaze and with a determined look on his face, affirming his statement to him. He would do anything for this man.

The green eyes looked hopeful for the first time since he proposed, but still hesitant as if he couldn't really believe what he had heard. Severus decided another action was called for so he placed his palm on Harry's face and gently, while cradling his head, brought the younger man's mouth closer to his. The kiss was soft and full of promise but also brief and loving. When he ended the kiss, the older man leaned his face towards the other and rested their foreheads together. Severus soothed the cheek of the younger man, gently rubbing his thumb across the wetness of the tear tracks, and again tilted his face to his mouth. This time the kiss was more firm but still held just as much promise as the first one. Severus gently nibbled on the lower lip of the mouth and tugged, and then let go. He was trying to let Harry know he was loved and not everything was about how rough they would be or how exciting he thought he was. It was a gentle kiss and he was waiting for Harry's response.

Harry sighed contentedly as the first kiss was ending and sighed again at the end of the second one. He had never had such a romantic kiss before and wanted more. He moved off of Severus' lap to rearrange himself so he was straddled across it instead. Severus let him do this without one word of protest and encircled the smaller waist with his arms as Harry sat back down. He remembered another time, at the other facility where they put his lover back together; the time when they were in the kitchen alone. He smiled fondly at his younger lover and placed both hands on either side of the face in front of him. Pulling the face toward his lips one more time, he gently kissed his lover again, infusing the kiss with all the love he felt poring out of his old tired heart; the same heart that was breaking earlier but was renewed with the strength of their conversation. He gently nibbled and tugged on the full lower lip and ended the kiss with a whispered "I love you Harry."

Harry's heart soared as those four little words were spoken with all the promise and love anyone would ever need; the tone of the voice speaking a promise and a prayer at the same time. "I love you too, Severus." Harry spoke just as softly but after a pause he continued, "I would love to marry you and be with you forever, if you still want me."

Severus almost wept with joy and elation as his heart jumped in his chest. Of course the stoic man would never admit that. He knew Harry meant every word he had spoken and was relieved to hear the words come from his mouth with such conviction. He picked up the ring he had set on the small table next to the sofa and handed it to his lover.

"Will you marry me, Harry?" Severus asked again just so he could forget about the earlier response and give both he and his young lover a good memory of the question.

"Yes, Severus, I will marry you." The younger man replied as he opened the box. There inside was the most beautiful bonding ring Harry had ever seen. Not that he had seen many but this one was obviously the Prince bonding ring only with an emerald in the center instead of the traditional onyx. Inside the band was the simple inscription 'Love always and forever'. He gave it to Severus and held out his left hand so that the older man could put it on his finger for him, sealing their promise to each other.

"This, my love, is the Prince bonding ring." Severus began explaining the significance of what they were doing at the moment as he held onto the hand presented to him. "It is said that this ring is over five hundred years old and has not been worn in over a century. It can only be worn by the soul mate of the Prince men. They can be worn by no other. It is also said that once put on the soul mate's hand, it cannot be removed. Do you understand?" Severus looked into Harry's eyes to see if he was really paying attention to what he had said. "Once this ring goes on your finger and you have accepted me as your husband, it will not come off and our bond cannot be broken."

Harry's head jerked up with that statement and he looked into the older man's eyes to see the truth of the statement and the love shining through. He couldn't help but ask one more time, "Are you sure this is what you want, Sev? To be with me for the rest of your life?" He couldn't believe that Severus wanted to marry him when he was so young and obviously didn't know about everything that Sev did but as he looked into the man's face he saw what he needed; Love.

"I am sure Harry, but are you sure?" Severus wanted his lover to know what he was asking of him.

"Yes," was Harry's simple answer and Sev slid the ring on his fiancé's finger. Harry could feel the imbued magic more than he could see it. He felt it settle in his spirit and could feel Severus' capacity for love infused within his soul.

Harry leaned forward and kissed Severus just as softly and tenderly as the older man had done mere moments before. He wanted Sev to know he loved him just as much as he felt loved by the older man. It was the most romantic kiss he had ever given his older lover and he briefly licked the lips in front of him as he ended the kiss.

Severus took the left hand of his lover again to look at the ring, his ring sitting on the hand of the man he loved. He again thought about the suffering and anguish the younger man had been subjected to in his life and pledged to himself to take care of Harry for as long as he would let him. He started to move his thumb over the scar he knew was there but realized it was gone.

"Harry?" Severus asked. "Are you using glamour on the scar? I don't see it." Severus was puzzled as he didn't feel the magic of glamour at the time.

"No, Becca and I made a paste that removes scars. We used the oil from a petal of one of the flowers I bought for you. We made enough to give as presents to a few people we knew had scars too. That's what Becca gave Remus from under the tree. It worked in about a week using it three times a day. It was made with lavender oil added with the oil from the healing lily. I was surprised it worked so well. I didn't think I would ever get rid of that scar. I almost got rid of the one on my head too, look." As he said this, Harry lifted the bangs covering his forehead so Severus could see the vanishing scar for himself. "At first I thought because they were cursed scars that you couldn't remove them. Becca told me that since the tearing down of the blocks, and the removal of the evil, they were no longer cursed, just left over scars."

"I see. That is really amazing Harry. Just how many of those lilies did you buy? I was surprised at the quantity you gave me and that was a lot."

So Harry and Severus discussed the lilies, where they came from and the new paste that was developed for scar removal. The idea of removing scars from dark curses and what other applications the salve could have. They discussed about being a family, and how much they wanted to be together, and a myriad of other topics. The whole time, Severus took the opportunity to caress Harry's back and his thighs and his face with little touches that said more than words about how much he loved this young man. Finally Severus asked Harry a question.

"Harry?" Severus said huskily in a voice just above a whisper. "Do you think we can go to bed now?

Harry smiled and nodded to Severus not saying anything as he climbed off of his lap. The older man tried to stand up without wincing at the pain, but did so very stiffly as he was reminded that his younger lover had actually been sitting on his legs for well over an hour while they conversed.

Harry chuckled a bit at the look on Sev's face as he rose up from the sofa and stood. He took his lover's hand and slowly pulled him along as he walked across the room and toward the hallway. The older man was moving very slowly as the pins and needles feeling started to leave and the feeling came back into his thighs where Harry had been sitting.

"Shut it, brat." Severus said jokingly as Harry chuckled all the way across the room. "If you don't I will have to give you detention."

"Yeah, Yeah." Harry answered back. "Promises, Promises."

Severus just chuckled back at him as they walked to their bedroom.

As they got ready for bed, Harry was a little distressed as Severus put on sleep pants and climbed into bed. He was expecting his new fiancé to want to… well, celebrate but then maybe not. Following his example, he quickly donned his own pair of sleep pants and climbed into the bed with his lover.

"Sev?" Harry asked in a query of doubt. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, my love." The older soul mate answered with a smile. "I want you to know that you are loved and not just for the sex. I want to hold you all night and talk all night if you want or just go to sleep. Our relationship is not about how we make love, Harry. It is about wanting to be together and being able to open up to each other. It is about knowing that even when we don't have sex, we are still one with each other." Severus actually didn't know where the words were coming from, but he meant every word. He wanted Harry to be comfortable with him no matter what happened.

So Harry scooted closer to the warmth of the other body and put his arm across the chest as he snuggled into the side, as he had on countless nights over the passed month. He laid his head on the chest so he could listen to the heart beating in a rhythm of its own. Then he whispered to his lover as he was drifting off to sleep. "I love you."

"I love you too, my Harry," was the whispered response before he followed the younger man into blissful sleep. It had been an emotionally exhausting day.

A/N Lavender oil is a real substance and is used in homeopathic medicine to help heal cuts, burns and scars. The best lavender oil is more efficient and can be very costly but the less expensive ones will have an impact also. It would take months or even a year to diminish a scar of the proportion left on Harry's hand and there is no such thing as a healing marsh lily, but what the heck this is after all magic.

Becca's big secret is coming up soon. No one has guessed it yet. I should tell you that my favorite game is clue and the clues are throughout the story, just to give you a hint.


	35. Who Wrote This Book?

Posted 17 October 2009

Chapter 35: Who Wrote This Book?

Lucius Malfoy carefully ran scan after scan looking for any curse or portkey or other danger to his family on the package that had been sitting under the Christmas tree in his large family room. All the other presents were already distributed and he and Narcissa were pondering over whom it was that might have sent the strange package addressed to The Malfoy Family: A Gift for Your Family's Good Health.

Narcissa didn't know anything about the package and neither did he. It must be from one of his assistants or maybe one of the Dark Lord's followers. Lucius hadn't detected anything so he opened the shiny green wrapping and looked at the book inside. When he read the title, he was sure it must be from one of the Dark Lord's followers that he was acquainted with. Then he started to read. After about the first page, he looked at the title again and then looked at the publisher. He didn't know Prince Publishing, but he knew Severus' mother was a Prince. Then he remembered that she had been disowned as well as her child. Her father had not been happy she had married a muggle, so this couldn't be from Severus. It had to be from someone he was related to though. He firecalled the man at Spinner's End and asked to see him immediately. Narcissa looked at him with a puzzled expression, but didn't say anything as she was nibbling on a plain biscuit to calm her queasy stomach.

As the young Severus Snape stepped through the floo, he looked at Lucius Malfoy with a sneer. Actually the man was a friend but Snape didn't appreciate being interrupted on his holiday with pesky people that thought they were more important than anyone else. Snape did not like to be disturbed.

"What is it I can do for you, Lucius?" The man asked in a disgruntled voice.

"I asked you here to see if you know anything about this book." Lucius was sternly polite. He was worried about getting in trouble with the Dark Lord for having this information and was hesitant about letting anyone know he had it.

"I, too, received that trash. Do you believe what it says?" He replied cautiously. Actually he didn't think it was trash, but he didn't want to tell Lucius that until he found out what his position on all this was.

"I actually called to see if you knew who wrote it. It says the publisher is Prince Publishing and I have never heard of them. Are you related to someone with a publishing house?" Lucius' mask was firmly in place as he queried the younger man.

"I have never heard of them and am just as puzzled as you. Have you read any of it?"

"Not really, just the first page. Narcissa and I have been enjoying our holiday together and just got to this as it was under the tree in the back behind all the other presents."

"All I can say is, you need to read it and know that parts of it, at least, are true. Some of the things I already knew, but others I would have to check out. Be careful, my friend, as others will be furious if they see it." As the young man said his closing statement, he flooed back to his own modest home wondering if anyone else had received the book. He hadn't read the whole book, but he skimmed through it and realized that if everything written was true, this would rock the wizarding world on its axis. These people, whoever they are, were going to create a lot of enemies.

The next day...

Albus Dumbledore was sitting at his desk with the gifts from his many admirers contemplating the holiday. Christmas day he was out of the school visiting his brother Aberforth and he had just got back the morning after. He was trying to come up with a plan to flush out Voldemort and somehow gain more control over the ministry. As he opened his gifts he had received many unique kinds of candy from several people that were traveling abroad. At the present a pack of gummy bears was an interesting item. They were flavored in several different fruits and chewy but they kept sticking to his teeth and he set them aside for now.

As he came to the end of the presents, he noticed a square package that had been placed on his desk that morning by one of the elves. It looked like another book and he picked it up to see if it had come with a card. There on the front, it was addressed to Headmaster Albus Dumbledore with no other name indicating who it was from. The writing was a very fancy type of calligraphy, so it was impossible to tell who it might be from. He opened the green wrapping and looked at the cover of the book. This was bad, oh, this was very bad, he thought to himself. He opened the book and started reading to see what was being said about the most hated wizard in the United Kingdom.

He was incensed. How dare someone write this and not let him know. Who was Prince Publishing anyway? There had been no Princes around since that girl was at school some twenty five years ago. What was her name? Ellen… or no… it was Eileen, Eileen Prince. Then he remembered that she had a son that had just graduated. Severus Snape, that was it, he could call on the young man and see if he knew who wrote the book. He sent an owl that very morning to see if he could get in touch with the young man.

A few minutes later Albus received a floo call from one of his young Order members. Sirius Black's head was floating in the fire to let him know about a book he had received. Albus invited him to come through and talk about it.

After explaining everything that had happened the day before with Remus and the presents he brought, Sirius was pacing the headmaster's office floor.

"…I tell you headmaster, something has to be done. Remus is in with the wrong crowd and I don't know what to do. This book has information that only Voldemort could know. I think it is a tactic to infiltrate our group to find out what we are doing. Remus said these people collaborate with other creatures and make friends with house elves and goblins. Something isn't right about this."

"Calm down, Sirius, I am sure there is a good explanation for this. Who wrote the book, can you tell me?" The headmaster sat back in his chair watching the young man pace in front of his desk obviously very agitated.

"I don't know. I mean, who would call themselves Tempus Spiritus? There is something not right here. Remus couldn't tell us who these people are and also couldn't tell us where they are." Sirius stopped in front of the old man for a minute to face him as he stopped his pacing. "My brother is involved with them also. Remus saw him when he met briefly with them before coming to the Potter's for Christmas dinner. He said Regulus no longer has the dark mark, these people took it away." Sirius started pacing again. "Who has that kind of power? I don't like this; I don't like this at all Headmaster."

Albus was not too happy to hear this either. If these people were on the side of the light, why would they not come to see him, unless they knew something of his plans? They obviously had a great deal of knowledge, but that was impossible no one knew he was planning to control the ministry from the school. Even if they did no one would believe it. He hadn't read the book yet but had just skimmed through it to see what it was about. Obviously Sirius knew more about what was written in this book. He turned his attention back to his former student to continue to listen to what he had to say.

"There is a chapter in that book that states there is no such thing as a muggleborn, only squib born and descended; that no witch or wizard could be created by two true muggles. Who writes this kind of stuff? Lily is going to Gringotts sometime today or tomorrow to do the inheritance test to find out. What will happen to our world if a bunch of muggles try to claim they are descended from squibs?"

At this statement Albus started paying attention again. He had been trying to claim some of the vaults from the families he knew had died out with the idea of being a distant cousin and every time he had gone to Gringotts he was turned down saying that no one but the family could claim a vault. But he had claimed a few at first about fifty or sixty years ago, then the goblin that was helping him shut down the whole procedure and said he would not be allowed to claim anything but his own personal vaults. He had pointed out to them that the main family died out but they were very insistent. Albus interrupted Sirius' rant in mid stream.

"Sirius, sit down and let's talk about this calmly. Did Remus say anything about how long this publishing group had been in existence or how old the person was that wrote the book?"

"He said he didn't know. How could you work for someone and not know? He said he owed these people his life because they had cured him of being a werewolf. I didn't know there was a werewolf cure did you?"

Albus shook his head in the negative, made a mental note to ask Slughorn later, and continued with his own list of questions. "And you say that he was wearing new robes?"

"Not just new robes Albus, the finest quality acromantula silk robes I have ever seen. Not just silk embroidered, but the material was acromantula **silk**, **and** he brought robes for all three of us and the Potter's unborn baby. You can't get that kind of stuff at a store, it has to be special ordered and tailored made. I was afraid to wear them; I thought there might be tracking spells on them even though I couldn't detect any.

"Alright, Sirius, please tell the Potters we will have an Order meeting in a few days, I will owl everyone with the details." Knowing that he was being dismissed, Sirius took his leave of the headmaster and flooed back to the Potter's to tell them what he and Albus had spoken about.

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Voldemort was infuriated, he had come to the LaStrange's home to visit and discuss their next step of attack with some of his inner circle when he found out about the book. They had received it and no one told him about it. Who had this knowledge except him? How did they get it? He immediately called a meeting of the other Death Eaters using Bella's mark. Not just the inner circle but the whole group. By the time he was finished and his anger abated somewhat, Bella was writhing on the floor in pain.

"Oh, stop your whimpering woman," Voldemort said with a sneer on his face, "you should be happy to bear the pain in my name." He actually loved torturing her, in his sick and twisted mind it gave him great pleasure that someone was so devoted that he could inflict great amounts of pain and they would still come back for more. Bella was a very strong and powerful witch and he could drain more power from her than most of his female followers. His entire inner circle was magically powerful; he needed them to be so he could complete some of his tasks. He mostly sat back and told everyone else what to do, but some things he couldn't trust them with. It was not in his nature to get into the middle of battle and risk himself, but occasionally he would just to keep the troops in line.

Voldemort sat on a throne like chair in the LaStrange's ballroom as the Death Eaters popped in one by one. When the room was full, the older man started the meeting.

"I am very disappointed that some of you have received a book yesterday and I didn't find out until today about it. I want to know now, how many of you got this?" As he said that he held up the book in question. The Death Eaters were fearful of what would happen if they told him, but they were more afraid of what would happen if they didn't.

Lucius Malfoy came forward and bowed before his Lord. He could possibly salvage this situation if he presented it in just the right manner. He hadn't let Narcissa come with him, even though her mark flared as his had. She was three months pregnant and he didn't wish for anything to happen to this child. She had given birth to twins who were only five months old now, but they were female and had shown little signs of any magical power so they were trying again. Usually when the baby was born, you could feel at least a little magic coming from them even if they couldn't use it yet.

"You may speak Malfoy." Voldemort acknowledged him after a few minutes of watching him grovel. The young Malfoy had recently taken over his father's place, when he died last year. He was a valuable follower as his father had been politically powerful and now the younger Lord had taken his father's place.

"My Lord, the book appeared under my Christmas tree with no indication as to whom it was from. I was trying to ascertain its origin when you called us. Yesterday I was able to speak to another colleague but did not find the information I was seeking. I did not know you were uninformed about the book, I apologize for any undue stress this has caused you."

"And just what did you find out Lucius." Voldemort's wand hand was just itching to kill or crucio someone, but he held back to see what information Lucius could give him.

"The book was published by a company called Prince Publishing but is not registered in Wizarding England, the name Tempus Spiritus is of course fictitious and has never been used on any other published book or magazine article before. The Prince line has died out and no one here in the United Kingdom can lay claim to the family. I am assuming that it is some foreign company that has published it but I have not received responses from my foreign contacts due to the holidays. I should hear from them by the first of the year." The young lord paused to get his thoughts together. Most of this was speculation, but he had to say something.

"The book is not for sale in any bookstore and was not purchased by anyone. It was delivered by owl to our front doorstep and so were the others I had inquired about. Whoever wrote and published it has to have money because no payment was ever made to anyone for the book. I believe that an anonymous press release, a letter sent to the Daily Prophet could dispel its contents easily. This company has no standing, no reputation and no building, and it has never published anything before, people can't take it seriously.

Voldemort was actually slightly appeased by this report. The young Malfoy Lord didn't have the information he wanted but he did have some answers and a way to discredit the information. It showed he was thinking and he was willing to show some initiative. Of course, initiative could be a bad thing if he was too independent. He would have to watch the Malfoy scion for any insubordination later. Voldemort then addressed the group of followers standing before him. "Does everyone agree with Malfoy's assessment?" After the assent of everyone in the room he asked, "Does anyone else have any other information about this matter that might be useful?" That was when Severus Snape moved forward and stated his information to the Dark Lord.

"My Lord," the young man interjected, "The Headmaster of Hogwarts has sent me a missive asking for an audience to discuss the book. He asks that I come to the school tomorrow at noon to speak about the origins of the publication. I do not know what information he has but I was going to ask you if you thought this would be appropriate."

"Why would that old fool wish to converse with you about this matter?"

"My mother was a disowned Prince. He would remember this and probably want to ask if I knew who published it, or he may want me to join his cause and use the information to sway my judgment. There is no telling what is in the old coot's mind but if you wish I can meet with him to find out."

"Yes, I do believe this would be acceptable. You will coordinate with Malfoy and compile a report for me due at the first of the year. Lucius, you will send a press release to the Daily Prophet today, disavowing the information contained in this monstrosity of published works but do not sign it. I don't want people to know who my supporters are just yet. You are too valuable as a hidden entity."

Both Snape and Lucius bowed before the man sitting before them and acknowledged him together with the proper response. "Yes, my Lord." Then they moved back into the group, silently returning to their places in the collective.

"You are dismissed." Voldemort told everyone and he watched as they popped out of the room with a series of cracks just as they had popped in earlier.

The Dark Lord had much to contemplate. He only hoped he could find out the origination of the book soon so he could destroy them once and for all. He decided to take it home with him and read it so he could know everything it said. He could not rely on these fools understanding all the information contained in the book as well as he would.

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Albus Dumbledore was sitting at his desk when an owl flew to the window. He quickly took the parchment attached to its claw and read the message written on it. It was Snape agreeing to meet with him tomorrow at noon. Good, maybe he could get to the bottom of this fiasco once and for all. He already had an interview with the Daily Prophet to disabuse everyone of the notion that muggleborns didn't exist and were actually born from squibs. He didn't believe it for a moment and wanted the wizarding population to believe it even less. He hadn't wanted the information in the book coming out to the public. It wasn't in his plans for the ministry takeover.

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In Diagon Alley, a mysterious 'vending machine' appeared in the middle of the street. The creators of the machine knew it would not last long but for ten sickles one could buy a book. Just put in the money and the book appeared at the bottom in an opening. The only thing different about this machine was it did not use electricity but ran on magic and it was one of a kind. No one saw it appear but the morning after Christmas it was in the middle of the street ready for use. It advertised several books in a miniature form and came with instructions to enlarge it once you were ready to read it. At first everyone was very wary and didn't approach the contraption but as a few 'muggleborns' knowing what a vending machine was, used it and started reading, more of the population entered into the fray.

It was three hours later when a crowd of people were surrounding it that the aurors were called and it was taken into custody. Even they didn't want to touch it, but they decided to keep the public safe and so portkeyed it to the ministry. It resisted all spells to dismantle it, so even at the ministry, in order to find out what was going on, the aurors used the machine and bought books, soon the other departments were doing the same thing and before you knew it, the entire place was reading a book instead of working, even the minister himself.

The next day the Daily Prophet headlines read Who Wrote this Book? The article was by a new reporter Rita Skeeter, who had been sent a copy of the same present as the followers of Voldemort. And although there were several articles denying the information about muggleborns, and other facts specified in the book, from "concerned citizens" and Albus Dumbledore, not one word was written, nor confirmed by the goblins of Gringotts Bank. Since the only people that knew about the information were mostly the purebloods that had received it, the only thing the article did was publicize that there was a mysterious book for sale with new information that was never made public before.

An hour after the aurors portkeyed the 'vending machine' away, another appeared mysteriously in the middle of Diagon Alley.

Gringotts serviced over thirty so called muggleborns that day and every one of them were from magical families with squibs in their blood lines. Three of them were from pureblood families thought to have died out and had vaults in Gringotts that had not been touched in over a hundred years. An elderly goblin named Gorbink had contacted Albus Dumbledore to let him know his claims for vaults of families that were died out were being denied again, as they had been claimed by squib born witches and wizards. The old wizard was now going apoplectic in his office at the loss of funds he could never try to claim again.

A/N Thank you to all my reviewers and everyone who has added this for a story alert. (Over 200 now) Next Chapter will be up on Wednesday and will be all about Becca's big secret, so stay tuned.


	36. Becca's Big Secret

Posted 20 October 2009

Chapter 36: Becca's Big Secret

The day after Christmas there was pandemonium at the publishing company. Everyone wanted the book and no one could get one because the kiosk (or vending machine) was confiscated by the ministry. The employees were suppose to be on holiday but all the elves and other employees had decided the book was too important to their world so they came into work when they saw the Prophet article. About an hour after the first machine was taken by aurors, another was magically transported in its place. Secretly they were all excited that it had been even more of a huge success than they were hoping for. Everything was working out fine until Remus' elf, Valet Nixy, came and handed Severus a message.

Severus gathered the family with Regulus and Shashi in the sitting room. Doc was there also, as he was checking on Becca because of the pregnancy. Severus read the note that Remus had sent.

_Severus,_

_I have been contacted by some friends to attend a meeting in __order__ to discuss a book recently published. I have also given my friends a new children's book for their upcoming addition to the family. Please let me know if I may have some time off so I may accept the invitation. _

_Remus._

This message was obviously coded as Remus kept his own schedule and really didn't need to ask for time off; he was supposed to be on holiday too.

"Obviously he has been asked to attend an order meeting to see what he knows. I would suggest that we let him tell them something but not who we are or where we are. We need to decide what is alright for them to know and what is not to be known.' Severus started off the informal meeting.

"We knew this could happen" said Becca. "It was just a matter of time. I was hoping that it wouldn't start till after the first of the year. Do you think we can trust him to keep our secrets? Maybe we should get him here and see if he knows anything else about what they will ask him. Of course this is Dumbledore we are talking about so we should take some precautions. We don't want to lose a valuable employee."

Severus shouted "Valet Nixy"

When the little elf popped into the room, wearing his uniform of black and white with the Prince crest on his left breast Severus immediately asked him to bring Remus to them. Remus appeared in the room a few minutes later and looked around at the people gathered there.

"I guess this little meeting is in response to the parchment I sent?" Remus stated with a question as he looked around the room. "I didn't know if you wanted me to join the meeting or not."

Severus then said, "We have discussed it and feel you should go to the meeting. You may tell them about the werewolf cure and about the werewolf fund to help them with education and business as this is what you do, keeping in mind you don't give them our names…"

"Wait a minute Sev. Why don't we give them your name? At least your name Severs Masterson Prince, you're from Germany and a legal tourist in the UK looking to expand your business ventures. It has no bearing on why we are located here and they can look for the company in Germany ." Harry was the one who interjected this comment. Severus thought about it and nodded, agreeing with Harry. It was a Slytherin move, giving them some information to throw them off the trail. He went into the bedroom and got the papers from the German Ministry of Magic and then returned to the sitting room.

"Alright, this is what you may tell them. I am Severs Masterson Prince; here are my papers from the German Ministry of Magic. Read these over carefully because Dumbledore may try to use legilimency on you and you can think about these. You may tell them about Regulus, the werewolf cure and that you are cured and working with the werewolves and that you don't work in publishing or distribution. We also want to give you a portkey to bring you back here in case something happens at the meeting. If you don't have to use it, you should keep it anyway for emergencies. I have a feeling this is not going to be the last time we hear from either side. Are you ok with this so far?"

"Why would you think anything would happen if I am with Dumbledore? It's true he does not really have time for me in his order as a werewolf but now that I am cured I could be of use on the light side."

"Let's just say we are going to take all the precautions we possibly can and leave it at that. There may be a Voldemort spy in the group that no one knows about. I own the company and you don't work in distribution or for the printing press so that should be all the information they might need. If they get testy in wanting more facts you can tell the truthfully you don't work in that department and then use the portkey." After discussing a few other details, Severus cut the meeting short and thanked Remus for his time and for informing them about the order meeting.

Severus looked at Becca and asked, "Do you think you can make a portkey like the others you made for the elves, an ascot that can be worn with the robes that would not be detectable as a portkey?"

"NO," Doc shouted and then looked at Remus. "The pregnancy is making her powers unstable; I can do it for you." Then Shashi came with one in his hand and said.

"I already have one. It is my emergency portkey but I can get another one later." The elf then handed Remus the small scarf with a smile and an anxious look toward Becca.

After one last word with Severus, the former werewolf was whisked away by the house elf back to his apartment. His office was located there as well. He did most of his business in the field in meeting the other werewolves or former ones at their location. It was easier and more comfortable for them. He wondered about their cautions with Dumbledore. They all seemed to know something about him and he couldn't help the feeling that he was missing something. He sent a reply with an owl accepting the appointment time and settled down to work knowing he would figure out what was going on sooner or later, but for now he had work to do.

Doc was sitting next to Becca with a thunderous look on his face. "You did not tell them, did you?" He nearly shouted in a menacing tone at the young woman. "No one is moving out of this room until these two know exactly what is going on. You had better start talking young lady or I will." His face was thunderous and he was not in the mood for any prevaricating.

Becca sort of winced and started to say something before Severus, who was clearly puzzled about the outburst asked, "What didn't you tell us?" He had felt that she was keeping something back, but what could it be that would prevent her from making a portkey and cause that reaction in the normally carefree and jovial doctor?

"I don't have a lot of power to do difficult types of magic." Becca whispered into the room full of people, almost so low you couldn't hear what she was saying. Everyone looked in her direction thinking they could not have heard correctly. Becca cleared her throat and tried to speak a little louder. "When I was born, I didn't have any magical power and my magical core was almost nonexistent." She further explained.

"How can that be? You did a fetus transfer and you apparate everywhere and put all this together and sent us from one time to the next. I don't understand how you could have gotten us this far without tremendous amounts of power." Severus looked at his counterpart's great granddaughter with confusion. "How did you manage everything? How did you hope to do this and raise the infant if you had limited power?" More importantly, Severus thought, how did she hope to go up against Dumbledore with such limited power?

"Actually, I didn't do a lot. I did the planning with help from the founders' portraits and had a list of things I needed before I left home. My great grandfathers did most of the work." Becca then changed her mind in how to approach this and said. "Let me start at the beginning."

"My mother and father were captured in a raid at the apothecary in Diagon was one of the few places still open as most businesses had long been closed or destroyed due to the war. Voldemort had found he could tap into an infant's power when pulling magic from the dark mark on the mother so he didn't immediately kill my parents. He forced them to take the dark mark and then proceeded to drain them of all their magical power along with mine. My father was killed when they found out he could speak parsletongue and could remove his mark. My mother could not do anything about the mark because she was not a parslemouth. Voldemort somehow had found out I was the seventh child of two seventh parents and he knew that would mean great power and he wanted it. Both my mother and father are seventh born. My father was Evan's seventh son. Before we were rescued he had drained my mother and me by proxy, so much that the magical cores could not regenerate.' Becca paused and called for a house elf to bring some tea.

"My family never gave up on me. They searched and spoke with healers from all over the world. Doc was found and he wanted to help so they paid for the research and Doc finally came up with something he thought would work so they tried it. That was when he found the information on sound wave therapy. It was used by muggles to treat fatigue and depression but the theory was good and my grandfather decided to try it. It took a few years but my magical core was at least functional. I still require help from time to time and my room is sound proof so you don't hear the sound thrumming from the bed as I sleep. It's not the best situation, but it does let me function as a witch instead of a squib. My personal elf Assistant Millie has been with me since I was a little girl and she does what I can't."

"But how do you apparate from place to place or do spells and how did you transfer that fetus from me." Harry wanted to know, he at least looked more worried than agitated like Doc was.

"I do have some magical power, it is just limited. It does not take magic to use a portkey only to make one. This necklace," Becca then pulled at the jewelry around her neck, "is not just for decoration." It was beautiful, made of all different types of stones and gems cut into runes all the way around her neck. "I never take it off and in fact, it can't come off. It was constructed by goblins, on my great grandfather's orders. It is a portkey with several predestined locations. I cannot apparate." Becca informed the group and watched as they all stared at her, still not understanding. She sighed and continued.

"I can **borrow** magic from another person or the very ground we stand on if the situation calls for it, but it is unstable and I cannot hold onto it. The fetus exchange was necessary and I was desperate so I borrowed magic from Severus by holding on to his shoulder, he just didn't realize it. I can only assume it was similar to a muggle lifting a car off a child in an accident. It just needed to happen and the adrenelin rush boosted my strenth. Everything around you has energy; you just need to know how to access it. You will get to learn that when you start training."

"And what about the time travel? How did you manage that?" Severus did not look happy and he was having a hard time believing what he was hearing.

"That room was built by you and Harry, I mean your counterparts. It took a great amount of power, time and research but it draws energy from all the time lines it is connected to. One only needs know how to make the time spells work, not to be able to project people in time. I only did the spells to activate the room and **it** sent everyone. And I know you didn't notice, but as I was doing the spells, I was touching the floor to channel a little power while doing the incantations. I, uh, had no shoes on."

"And the parsletongue?" Regulus asked. "I thought you had to be very powerful to do that."

"It is true that most people who are a parslemouth are powerful. But parsletongue is just a language, and more mind magic than core magic. A strong mind is a discipline not a power. I inherited the snake language from my father and his father before him. Just as in everyday magic, you need to focus, but because the focus is so strong, the ability is strong. It is not a power but ability. There is a difference."

"What about the dark mark?" Harry asked.

"The whole universe and life itself has basic rules that must be followed. The wizarding world has forgotten that. It does not take great power to dispel one of the dark marks. You only need to know what to say to it. I merely told it that it was a squatter. The rough definition of a squatter is one who resides on a property without permission. Permission for the mark to be on the property or in this case your body is obtained through lies and deceit. It therefore did not obtain the permission from the property owner or yourself to reside through legal means. All that has to be done is to cancel an illegal contract. In any legal transaction, you have a contract, as soon as the contract is discovered to contain false information, the contract is void. But it has to be spoken in the language it was created in, in this case parsletongue. It is perceived to be powerful, because no one knows the language. Perception is a very powerful tool."

Regulus couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You mean to tell me, you remove the mark by telling it we were lied to and it has to leave? Just like that? The Dark Lord made such a big production about it when he gave it to me and you undo all that by saying 'you are a squatter and you have to go'?"

"That about sums it up, sometimes it puts up an argument but it always has to leave in the end. But only if the person it inhabits wants it gone. If the Death Eater in question wants it to stay and is a spy for Voldemort then it will not leave and you know that person is not a true defector."

"What about all the other stuff?" Harry asked.

"In reality, Harry, I have brought nothing to you but your own work and knowledge. Knowledge and authority are two powers that can overcome almost anything. They are the only powers muggles have and some of them use it very well. That's the reason Rowena was so powerful although she did have a lot of magical power too. But knowledge does not translate into a powerful magical core. Both of my great grandfathers used a good amount of power to provide me with portkeys and the means to do what ever else needed to be done. They wrote the Voldemort book that was distributed. The name Tempus Spiritus was used on all the books that were written by the family. We were a family that stayed together, kept our magic together and protected each other. We were strong because of it, and were constantly attacked because of it. True magical power comes in staying together and using your knowledge, authority and magical power as one, not in fighting, rebelling and doing your own thing within the family. The only book I wrote was the children's book based on stories my aunts told to me and some manuscripts that were found in the Chamber from my time period."

"And what about all the elves?" Severus chimed in "Why did we bring all the elves from Hogwarts in our time?"

"Harry, a long time ago, promised **on our family's magic** to always do what he could for the house elves. We needed workers to be able to get the business up and running and we could not give them a guarantee that they would be safe where they were. I gave them a **choice** on whether they wanted to come or not. We did not really take all the elves, about a hundred or so did not come as they had families that were indentured with other people and they wanted to stay. All the elves that were with us in the chambers came, and Hogwarts had too many elves to begin with. It could afford to lose some."

"What about the wards at Grimmauld Place when you picked up my Kreacher? He told me you were a strong witch and knew pureblood ways." Harry asked next.

"The wards were blood magic, not to do with a magical core but the blood of the person resetting them. The wards threw those people out, not my magic. Blood magic is a pureblood thing and designed to protect the family with the residual magic in the property. I didn't build the wards only manipulated what was there to throw out those that didn't belong. Again knowledge and authority is its own power."

Regulus upon hearing this wanted to know why she was able to do that. But Harry was the one who answered him. "You died in the cave, your mother a few years later and Sirius died protecting me in my fifth year. Belletrix hit him with a curse and he went through the veil at the Department of Mysteries. He had named me his heir. All this was in the other time line so we will try to prevent it here."

Harry started to speak again but Becca interrupted, "Didn't you and Severus go over everything in the war room? All this information was there so I didn't realize you didn't know about all this stuff."

"I guess there were some things we missed." Harry said sheepishly. He remembered finding some journals but was distracted by Sev at the time and didn't go back to read them.

"The information we have on Prince Conglomerate took over fifty years to accumulate and build. Everyone in the family has contributed to it and been instrumental in one idea or anther, some of the family contributed more than others but everyone pitched in from time to time with their own special talents. We are building a business in a few years, which took the company a few decades to accomplish. This is why we needed the help of the elves and they were happy to come, most of them with their families. We so far have over a year's worth of work established in a few weeks but have a lot more to go." Becca looked around the room at the faces in various states of disbelief and awe.

"I was raised in the magical world, but was sent to a muggle girl's boarding school. The family wanted me to be able to survive no matter what happened in the war. I graduated with honors and received several Master degrees in Computer Science, Business and Marketing as well as Finance. Of course I used a time turner and took classes on the computer in a time displacement room, much like the war room." She paused to nibble a biscuit and continued. "It was what I brought to the company. Some of the technology here is not going to be developed for another fifty years and in my time it is still obsolete."

"It isn't easy keeping all this hidden, that's why the company is mostly in the muggle sector, but using employees we can't control is a risk we can't afford to take. So we use the elves. Do you guys know that the company is registered in the muggle world and not magical? It is one of the reasons wizards won't be able to find it. They don't acknowledge the muggle world unless forced to. And even though we call it Prince Conglomerate, most of the muggle companies have other names so that they are subsidiaries of Prince Conglomerate." Becca looked around the room again and continued to explain some of the business concepts with them. After about an hour she then stated, "I am sorry gentlemen, this afternoon has been a little much. I think I will leave you now."

Severus looked at Doc as Becca was leaving the room and asked, "Is she going to be alright?"

Doc nodded his head and replied. "She will be fine, but she tires easily nowadays. Quite a bit of her magic is going into growing the baby and when she sleeps she needs to be in her bed to keep her core generated. She has been really good about getting the proper amount of sleep to sustain her good health and the baby's as well."

"She fell asleep on the chair and I brought her to bed the other night but didn't know to activate it. I guess she needs the sound therapy on a nightly basis. I wish she had told us." Severus told Doc worriedly, he was not mad at Becca, but very concerned about her.

"Don't worry about it, the bed activates about five minutes after she lies down. She wouldn't have missed her nightly dose of sound waves." Doc assured him with a smile. He knew they were worried about her but she was really going to be alright.

"How many more surprises are we going to have from that young lady?" Severus commented with a smirk.

Doc answered him "With Becca? You never know." He was chuckling as he left the room.

As Becca started to lie down she was thinking, that didn't go as bad as she thought it would, but she hated to think about the overprotection she would now have to endure. It was one of the reasons she hadn't brought up the subject. Too bad Doc happened to be there today, she was sure the others would not have told the two soulmates about her problem. She started to drift to sleep and could hear the pleasant thrumming of her bed that lulled her into a deep restful slumber.

A/N Sound therapy and the use of sound waves for treating depression is a real concept. If you use a search engine and use the words sound therapy you will find a multitude of information about it. It is based on the same theory that makes us use different music to dance and exercise and relax. I don't recommend someone try treating any illness including depression without the help of a qualified professional.


	37. No Rest for the Weary

Chapter 37: No Rest for the Weary

One would have thought that the day after Christmas was a day of rest. Not in the Prince household. Yesterday was all the excitement about the book and now two days after the holiday Harry and Severus were sitting at the table with Becca again. Since Becca realized that her two men hadn't read everything in the war room, she pulled out the journals and her notebook of plans and after breakfast started going over the highlights of what needed to be done, and what they wanted done and what was nice but not important. She had all three categories nicely printed on three pieces of paper and had Severus and Harry sitting at the table with her.

"Merlin Sev, she reminds me of Hermione, with her lists and checking the list and what to do list… Merlin..." Harry moaned as he plopped into the chair next to his fiancé. He liked that word, fiancé, yes he could get used to that. Focus Harry, focus. Harry shook his head, pulled his eyes away from staring at his engagement ring and looked back to the pages Becca was furiously writing on.

"I hope you meant that as a joke!" Becca fussed at him. "I am nothing like that know-it-all. I would never accept money to befriend someone and I have never been the one to answer all the questions in class, and I never thought I knew better than anyone else. You bred it out of me by the time I was six." She finished her rant with a smirk.

Harry and Severus laughed at the woman before them. Severus could see what Harry was talking about but knew this was not a Hermione Granger. This female had poise, and class, and an ethereal beauty and knew when to keep her words to herself, even when you could see she wanted to add her little bit to a conversation. She was also much quieter than his former student.

"I'm sure Harry didn't mean it the way it sounded. He only meant it in a good way." Severus smirked at his younger lover. Then he leaned over and softly whispered in his ear so Becca would not hear him, "Never upset a pregnant woman, Harry, you may not live to regret it."

Harry kicked Severus with his foot under the table but focused his attention back to the pages in front of Becca. "So, what are we going to do for the next few days?"

"It has occurred to me that we have moved up the time of events I had originally set. I was going to come here on the night the Potters were attacked and replace baby Harry with a small golem baby in his place till the **idiots** threw it in the cupboard and it disappeared. I really don't want to let **those** **people** touch our baby Harry. The problem is in letting other people know things, we risk changing the events that are not to be changed. Namely the Potters."

"Yeah, about that..." Harry started to say.

"We cannot change those events Harry. I can't stress this enough." Becca looked kindly but determined. She had an idea of what it was costing him to stay out of that matter.

"I know." Harry replied solemnly. Severus placed his arm around his lover and gave him a gentle squeeze. He, too, would like to save the Potters, if only for Lily.

"But I'm getting off track. We have moved the time frame up; I was not going to start the recent changes to Prince Conglomerate till after baby Harry was settled. I can only imagine what plans the old coot will have up his sleeve now the book is out. I do know Dumbledore successfully blocked all people trying to get Harry back into the wizarding world. Remus for one tried really hard and Dumbledore reported him as a werewolf. He was almost detained by the ministry to go to a werewolf camp that was little more than a prison camp. They even have a few dementors stationed there. He had to leave for a few years for things to settle down; every time someone recognized him, they called for the aurors. It was really bad for awhile, I'm glad you got him the cure already Sev. Next thing to do in that sector is to clear out all those camps. You should talk to him about it."

"So I guess my question is what do you want to do? I had originally thought to have the horcruxes destroyed by Harry's first year in school so when he faced Quirrell then Voldemort would die. Now I am wondering if there isn't time to take care of all of them before he attacks the Potters. He doesn't seem to know when they are destroyed so he wouldn't be aware of it if we did it beforehand. But then we have to ask ourselves, what put the piece of Voldemort in Harry in the first place? Will having the other pieces of his soul gone make him die when the avada kadava backfires or will a piece of his soul still splinter off? Then what about his followers? Do we let them die or do we try to give them a chance at redemption before that night?

Becca gave a thoughtful look to the two men in front of her. "You are the ones who have to decide what can be done. We know where the rest of the horcruxes are, well except for Nagini. All we need to do is collect them and destroy them.

"I think this is something Harry and I will need to discuss and think about for a few days. What else is on the agenda?" Severus asked.

"The mini floo, I would like to set up one in the Weasley home and let everyone use it and say how wonderful it is." Becca suggested slyly.

"You want to WHAT?" Harry jumped out of his chair and was enraged after hearing what she wanted to do. "Why? They betrayed me." Harry was shaking he was so mad thinking about how they had stolen from him. He noticed Severus sitting in the chair beside him with his arms folded across his chest not saying a word.

"Calm down Harry, I don't **want** to give them anything, but have you ever heard the expression 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer'?" Becca looked at him pointedly. "Just think about it, the Weasleys that are here are not the same ones that stole from you in that other time. They are not members of the Order yet. This family may be different, and if not, you will be able to tell long before baby Harry starts school."

"Why can't we just advertise it? We already know it works, we use it here." Harry said, still tense at the thought of using the Weasley's for anything that could benefit them.

"We don't want to be in the spotlight, and we certainly don't want the Prophet people here to take pictures and talk. We need people that are respected and need some financial help at the same time. I doubt we could find another pureblood family that would do that. They have a bunch of children and could use the funds for schooling. I think Dumbledore may have started manipulating them because they are not financially able to provide a good education for all those kids. After Bill starts school and Charlie follows, they have to pay tuition for the next eight years in multiples of three and four. I think Dumbledore may have preyed on their need for school funds."

"Which brings me to the next step, how many of us do you want to be teaching at Hogwarts when little Harry and Evan start school? We have ten years to be thinking about it but we can't all show up one year at the same time. It should be slow and gradual with one of us joining one year and someone else the next. Remember baby Harry and Evan will be in school at the same time. Two parslemouths will already be noticeable without an influx of new teachers, and we will definitely want to be there if Dumbledore is still there."

"What subjects would we teach? My other counterpart will be teaching potions, do we want to interfere with that?" Severus' mind was quickly going through various scenarios wondering what they would teach.

"I could teach Muggle studies, History, Ancient Runes or Arithmancy, any subject that does not require a large amount of magic. I will have to get certifications for this time line in the next coming years. That was the other thing I needed to speak with you about. Our certifications should not all be in the same year or from the same country either. We want to look as random as possible and remember we were home schooled, that way we won't need school records or have to explain why we were never at Hogwarts."

"Why do you have so many muggle degrees? Obviously this place is more muggle than wizard. I wanted to ask that before but didn't." Harry asked curiously.

Becca smirked, "My great grandfathers wanted me to be able to function if they were gone. Remember they had been fighting a war for most of their lives and many of our family had died. I was taught in a muggle school and then tutored at home for the wizard stuff. They said it made me 'a well rounded individual'. It was after finding Doc and discovering sound therapy that we started to mix muggle and wizard on a larger scale. It worked out well. The idea now is to teach the wizarding world that squibs can function here and to stop pushing them out of our world. The plan is to eventually teach squibs at Hogwarts too. They will be taught those subjects that don't take much magic and how to survive in our world."

"OK," Harry said, "I think Severus and I need to discuss this in the next few days and make a decision. I haven't finished school yet and can't teach any of these subjects so I guess I am going to be home schooled?

"Well, since we have more time than I originally planned, I was thinking that maybe Reg and Remus might like a little training too. Reg hasn't finished at Hogwarts either, although he is in his last year. They are only two and three years older than you. We can use the training room on the second level; it's another time displacement room. They will not be learning everything that you will Harry, but they can help with DADA and give you sparing partners. I also thought you might want to learn some martial arts skills and a few other things you have never taken before."

"You mean you have another one of those rooms like the war room? I could study for years and only really be a few months? Brilliant!" Harry was amazed.

"Glad you approve, I thought I had already told you about that." Becca retorted.

"Sorry, I guess I forgot."

"Now how do you want to approach the Weasleys?

Severus started speculating. "I think the best thing is to let the two of you approach them. My counterpart may already be known to them and I haven't had Doc change my looks yet. I was going to do that after the holidays. You should be safe enough just visiting there with one of the builders to take measurements."

"Will they let a goblin on the property? How are they going to feel if we show up with one?" Becca asked him.

But Harry answered "I don't think there would be a problem with that. We would just need to send them an owl asking them to meet, but I don't know if they would meet us as strangers just for a business opportunity."

Becca looked thoughtful, chewing on her bottom lip. "She is pregnant for Ronald right now and might except a little gift for the baby when we send the note with the owl. If we tell her she was recommended for a job maybe that would work. How about we ask Gorbink if he knows who handles their accounts. We could say one of the Goblins thought they might like the idea of working from their home. We would have to pay them a generous salary and give them some perks. Let them use it for two weeks and then, get the newspaper involved. Sound like a plan?"

The men nodded and they set to work wording the note to Arthur and Molly and finding a little present for the new baby. They worked like that for the rest of the day making plans and deciding what they wanted to put into the contract for the mini floo. Then they spent the remainder of the morning working out details for the other aspects of Prince Conglomerate.

One of the details was Prince Pharmaceuticals. Severus asked Becca after her afternoon nap. "What about all these rare herbs and other ingredients for some of these potions? Some of these recipes call for very rare ingredients and to make these in potions in any kind of volume, they must have known where to get them." He was still in shock about the lilies Harry had given him.

"Every year for about fifty years, some of our family would form a group of volunteers and work with a few muggle non profit organizations to help people that are underprivileged and have been in disasters that need to rebuild their homes or help replant their crops or some other form of help. We have never failed to find some folk remedy, ingredient that can be used or something else. That is how I knew where to find the lilies. We also have been all over the world and find rare ingredients from Africa, Asia, Australia, the Scottish Highlands and many other places. We help the people and they have always helped us in return. We were willing to listen to their recipes for home remedies and their legends. Some of those 'rare ingredients' you are talking about grow in abundance in other places and countries. Most people just don't know where to find them or what they can be used for. Most of their legends have turned into books or fictional stories that have sold all over the world in both muggle and wizarding society too. It is another way the company grows and helps others."

"How did you find them?" Severus was just amazed that they could find everything he was looking at in the journal. Some of these items were very rare and priceless.

"I once asked my granddad why we were able to find these things. He told me, we keep our eyes open, we keep our ears open and we keep our minds open. The only thing we shut is our mouth as much as possible. Just because someone doesn't have the same magic or is a muggle does not mean we can't learn something from them, if only to find we don't want to be like them or do what they do. It has been the trademark of our company and our family for a long time."

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Remus was home when he received an owl asking him to meet with the headmaster of Hogwarts School at four that afternoon. He was surprised that they wanted him so soon and he sat and contemplated on what he knew about the company and what he could tell them. He realized there was nothing he was not allowed to say that he knew for sure except about Severs Masterson Prince being an older time displaced Severus Snape. He knew he had already taken an oath to keep that secret.

The former werewolf immediately sent word to the Prince household to inform them of the time and place of the meeting. When Valet Nixy came back it was with another note from the eldest Prince.

_Remus,_

_ If the opportunity presents itself in the near future, please give your business card to Severus Snape. We would like to offer him a position in potions and wish to speak to him directly._

_We would like to meet with you also about a possible training schedule._

_Thank you,_

_SMP_

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Later that evening the Prince family called Regulus to eat with them as usual. He was alone in his living quarters so they often called him to dine with them. They wanted to approach him about what he would like to do. He could either stay working with the publishing company, even writing a book if he wished or he could start training with Harry at the first of the year. Regulus would be ahead of Harry but he still needed to take his NEWT's and could work on his Mastery in anything he wanted.

Everyone was happy to see Regulus. He had been working on the distribution of the new books they had published, including the book on Voldemort and another children's story book titled 'Children's Stories of the Old Ways' and another called 'So They Call You Muggleborn?' as well as some others including the book Remus gave the Potters for baby Harry. They had taken the book about Voldemort and made several smaller books with different titles. Let's face it, anything about wanting to be a Death Eater was not appealing to the general public and not all the information was wanted. The smaller books made it possible to reduce the price and let the public get the specific information they wanted.

As they were sitting down for supper, Regulus was regaling them with the efforts of keeping a 'vending machine' in the middle of Diagon Alley.

"You should have seen those aurors, trying to remove the vending contraption. We used the acromantula shell material to make it with this time and had extra security so it could not be moved. One of the aurors tried to blast the thing and the curse went wild and hit the building behind the auror. He ducked so fast then kept looking around to find out who shot a curse at him. Shashi was telling me the first vending machine was designed to be taken by them to get their attention and get the books inside the ministry, but now we own an empty building and put the machine in front of it. This way none of our people are attacked and the books are still selling."

"That auror was looking everywhere and interrogating people to see who was throwing blasting curses and the whole time it was him throwing them at our selling thing and them bouncing back. I don't think I have ever seen anyone so mad and it was his own fault." Reg put another piece of roast in his mouth and started chewing, but as soon as he was swallowed he started laughing again. "Those mirrors that were set up to see the area without being there are really great. You should see the funny things we see. Harry, you have to come and take a look. You would have a great laugh."

"You know, Reg, I would love to come and see the publishing building, I haven't seen it yet and this sounds like fun." The young man turned to his mate, "What do you think Sev? Could I get out of here and follow Reg around one day?"

"I don't see why not Harry, you don't start training for another few days. It would be good to get out before you have to buckle down to your studies." Severus knew his young mate would be taken care of and he was more of an outdoor person to begin with. He needed a change of scenery to help him settle down to his lessons.

"Wait till you see, Harry," Regulus was saying. "People come from the alleyway behind the building and crouch to the machine hoping not to be seen to feed it money and get a book, the whole time we are watching and they are looking around trying not to be spotted."

"How about tomorrow? I think I can get away from here for a little while. They tell me I have to start school again after the first. I didn't finish Hogwarts." Harry had a typical look on his face that all teenagers have when the mention of going back to school comes up. He scrunched up his face and winced at the thought.

"Be careful brat." Severus remarked, "or you won't get to go at all. I can use you for potion ingredients. I am sure I can find a recipe that could use a few parts." Severus joked with his lover. "Just make sure to be careful and don't get into trouble." He paused and slapped his hand on his forehead. "Oh no, what am I saying, your middle name is trouble. Maybe you should just stay put."

"That's not fair Sev, I don't go looking for trouble, it just finds me." Harry pouted at Sev all in good fun.

"I still don't want you in trouble no matter how it finds you." Severus was getting serious about this now. No more joking around he was thinking about the last time they went to Diagon Alley. "Reg, you better take emergency portkeys with you and maybe a guard. I don't want anything to happen to Harry."

"We will be careful, we will portkey to the publishing house and have fun over there. You know if you own it, it has got to be safe." Reg assured the former professor.

"Reg, one of the reasons we wanted you to come to dinner was to see if you wanted to train with me. I have to complete my NEWT'S and need a sparing partner. You could take about a month or two off of work and help me finish school. It will be here with tutors." Harry was trying to assure him that he would not be off work long and they could train together for a few subjects.

"That sounds great; I haven't finished Hogwarts yet either. It's my last year, but now I guess I have to stay away as the Dark Lord's followers will be after me. But Harry, how are you going to train for NEWT'S in a few months? You have two years to make up for to be able to take your tests. Unless you want to take only one or two subjects then you might be able to finish." Reg was puzzled about exactly Harry was doing.

"I take it you have not been introduced to the training room on level two? It's a time displacement room. One hour here equals 24 hours there. If we really stick to it we could finish two years worth of training in the month of January." Harry explained.

Reg, Harry, Becca and Severus talked well into late evening about the training. Becca had previously set up several instructors for Harry through Gorbink. The two young men were getting excited about the martial arts and some of the other subjects. Regulus was going to join Harry for quite a few subjects. It turns out that he loved Runes but didn't have the time to study the subject while in Hogwarts and he was already good at Arithmancy too.

The next evening Harry and Becca received an owl letting them know that they were welcome to come to the Weasley house for afternoon tea that Friday which was the next day.


	38. Meetings with the Headmaster

Chapter 38: Meetings with the Headmaster

Remus looked at himself in the mirror and had to smile. He did not consider himself to be a good looking man. No, not that, but now he was less flawed. He did like the fact that the paste he had gotten for Christmas was fading the scars that littered his body. He could feel human again. Most of the smaller scars were all but gone and even the larger scars from huge gashes were half as noticeable as before. For the first time in his life he felt, in time, like he could maybe go out and find a special girl and get married and raise a family. He had never allowed himself to think this way before, but now he could see it would be possible.

He put on a set of his everyday robes that were made of a light brown silk with a beige shirt and brown pants adding brown shoes, belt and the ascot that Shashi had given him for an emergency portkey. The buttons on the robe were gold made into the company logo of a crown and wand. This was not the Prince crest, but a logo the company had adopted to use in the muggle world for uniforms and advertising. It designated their brand of vitamins and homeopathic remedies. The muggle name was "Royal Pharmaceuticals. What amused Remus the most was the muggle employees did not call it a wand instead they called it a baton or a scepter to go with the royal image in their world.

Remus apparated to outside Hogwarts' gates and the view of the castle was amazing and never ceased to impress him. He strode up the path to the front doors and as he entered was received by a house elf asking him to 'follow Squeaky to the Headmaster's office'. As he walked through the halls, an ocean of past images and feelings welled up inside him. This is where he spent seven years of his life and he missed the feeling of camaraderie in seeing his friends every day. Now he barely saw them at all.

As he stood in front of the gargoyle guarding the headmaster's office, he remembered coming here from time to time as a student. Not because he was in trouble, but because he might know who perpetrated the latest prank on someone or how it was done. His friends were always getting into trouble. I seemed a lifetime ago now. He wondered where the time had gone.

The gargoyle quickly moved to allow him easy access to the stairs into the headmaster's office and the door was opening as he reached the top of the stairs. He was surprised to realize this was not an order meeting but just a single meeting with only him and Dumbledore. As he entered the room and sat down he glanced over to Fawkes and noticed the bird was a little depressed looking and didn't move from his perch. Normally Fawkes would have flown over to him and he would pet the bird and give him a treat.

Dumbledore went right into his questions after Remus declined tea and lemon drops. "Do you know who owns the company that wrote this book?" He held up his copy of the book about Voldemort.

"The company I work for owns Prince Publishing, but I don't know that much about it, other than to say that I don't really work in that division. I have read it and did receive an early release of the book. Why do you ask?" Remus hadn't quite expected him to be so blunt.

"I was hoping to find out who is responsible for its creation. It brings up some interesting ideas. Who owns the company?"

"Severs Prince, and he is also responsible for the pharmaceutical division that I work for. I can tell you more about that as I have more information on what I do. The company also owns a fashion division, a construction division, a property investment division and I think a few others. I haven't been with them that long to know all the aspects of the corporate headquarters, I'm still trying to figure out my end of it."

"Well, Remus, it looks like you have done well for yourself. How are you handling the full moon?"

"The company I work for has developed a cure for werewolves and I work with that exclusively. I no long have to worry about the full moon, other than an occasional bout of irritability."

"Really, that is amazing," the headmaster didn't sound like he believed it. "I hadn't heard about a cure for werewolves and to my knowledge no one else has either."

"It's really new and still in development. It works great on the bitten werewolf but needs a little adjustment for the born werewolf. We have not publically announced it as it is still under development. The company is currently looking to hire some local potions apprentices or masters to work with it. I have been working more with the werewolves to give them assistance in changing their lives. We have developed educational funds and business opportunities so they may be rehabilitated. I can go into further detail about that if you wish. The company is owned by Severs Prince, he is from Germany and I guess he wanted to expand his business interests here."

"Are you sure he is from Germany? I haven't heard of any Princes left in the line." Remus could almost feel a ghost of a touch in his mind and he quickly brought up the image of the papers Severs had handed him the day before to look at. It was a good thing he was very good at occlumency and Sev had reminded him about it or he would not have known what was going on.

"I have seen his passport, it was sitting on the desk one day and he has a permit to bring business into this country, we are required to display it at the facility. I haven't investigated my boss if that is what you mean, but I get the feeling that Voldemort may have tried to recruit him and he is not taking any chances that the monster or his followers will get their hands on his family." Remus only added the last bit because these were observations he had made. "The man is very family oriented and protects them ferociously."

Albus sat behind his desk with his hands together as if in prayer, he moved slightly and put them under his chin in contemplation. "Is this all you know about the people you work for? It seems to me that you should know their politics or something as you don't want to work for the wrong sort of people." Albus was implying in his own subtle way that Remus was working for the wrong side, he wondered if he could get him to join the order. Certainly his friends were members and he should be with them. Then he might be able to get more information on this new company.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, I really don't know what you want me to know. I have a job where I get to help people, people that are afflicted the same way I was. I get to work from home; I have two elves that belong to the company to help me. I have a regular deposit into my Gringotts account every month. These people give me free rein to help werewolves, they put together a fund to help educate them and put them to work, and they pay me on time. What else do you want me to know? I do not live with them; therefore I have an employee-employer relationship with them." Remus was getting a little testy at the insistent nature of the headmaster wanting more information.

"Remus, have you thought that maybe these people expect these werewolves to join them with Voldemort? Do they make them take an oath to stay faithful to their benefactor?" The headmaster was not entirely happy with the former werewolf's answers. He wanted to know where they got the information they printed.

"The only oath they have to take is to spread the word about the cure and not join Voldemort's side. They do not support the dark side." Remus replied, the agitation in his voice giving testament to his discomfort with the headmaster's persistent questions.

"Ah, I see. Tell me Remus, what happens if you get bit again by another werewolf?" The look on the old man's face as he asked that question was one of complete stillness, as if waiting for an answer he could use later. Remus didn't like this but he smirked at the old coot anyway.

"The werewolf would get infected with the cure as soon as a cured werewolf's blood touched his lips." Remus wasn't sure if that was true, but it was a theory they had been playing with. Once the cure was in the bloodstream, it stayed there. He watched as the old man raised his eyebrows at that and after another half hour of questions he bid Remus goodbye. The former werewolf just assumed the old man had all his answers until another former student knocked on the door and entered the room as bidden by the headmaster.

Remus saw Severus Snape standing there and was surprised; he looked pale and almost emaciated as if life had been unkind. For the first time, Remus was looking from the other side of the coin and for the first time he reached out a hand in friendship to Snape and greeted him. "Hello Snape, good to see you again." Snape sneered at him and looked disdainfully at the hand stretched out to him.

"Lupin" The former classmate acknowledged as he looked at the headmaster. Surely the old man didn't get him here to see the werewolf. He had a lot of nerve.

Just then the Headmaster received a floo call from one of his order members. He told him he would have to get back with them later as there were people in his office.

"Ah Mr. Snape, so good to see you could come, Mr. Lupin was just leaving." Remus taking the hint was leaving the room but was happy that Severus had at least shaken hands with him and he was able to slip him one of his cards that worked as a portkey to a secure meeting place. He used them for the werewolves that wanted the cure. Safety was a number one priority at Prince Conglomerate. Thankfully the old coot was busy with his floo call so nothing was noticed as the note was passed to the potions protégé.

Severus Snape stood in the office; glancing at Fawkes who was sitting on his perch and watching the old man stiffly stand back up from the floo after taking the call. Albus greeted the young man with the familiar tea and lemon drops, which he respectfully declined as he suspected they were spiked with something. As he sat back in his chair behind his desk, he addressed the former student. "So, how are you doing these days, Severus? I was happy to receive your reply that you would come and visit."

"Headmaster," Severus Snape got straight to the point, "would you mind telling me why you wanted to see me? I don't really understand the reason for this visit." His snarl was firmly in place, after all he didn't owe this man anything. He had let Black and that Potter spawn get away with trying to kill him, even if Potter did save him at the last minute. Lupin, he had decided a long time ago, was probably an innocent party as he surely didn't want people to see him in his other form.

"Ah, yes Mr. Snape, I imagine your time is very valuable. Very well, I called you to see if you knew anything about this book." At this point the headmaster pulled out his copy of the book that now had become so famous. "I know that your mother was a **Prince** and thought there must be some relationship." The headmaster made it a point to emphasis Prince and was looking at Severus with his patented twinkle in the eyes but trying to use occlumency at the same time. Severus Snape wasn't happy and shut his mind down like a steel trap. He had enough of that with the Dark Lord; he didn't need this nonsense with the old coot too. He did not appreciate being sent for, like a recalcitrant student, and he definitely didn't want to be here. In fact, if the Dark Lord had not told him to come, he would have incinerated the note and never looked back. He didn't agree with all the things the Dark Lord said, but he got respect which is way more than he had ever received in school.

"Professor, as you may well know, my mother was disinherited by the Prince family the day she married my father. I really don't have any information on anyone that may still be a member other than an old aunt that I can assure you is **not involved** as she is over one hundred years old and does not have access to this type of information. In fact, I thought they had all died out, so maybe this is another unrelated family named Prince or a line that moved. I don't know nor do I care as I have **nothing to do with them**." Snape ended his little speech in a caustic tone meant to deter the most inquisitive of people from any more questions. He hated to be questioned and was beginning to regret this little outing enormously.

"Not to worry, dear boy, I had thought I could find this person and perhaps exchange information with them and congratulate them on a rounding success. I can see that I was perhaps mistaken. One more question though. Do you know of any Princes that moved to Germany a few generations ago? Perhaps an aunt or uncle? I thought there might be someone you perhaps forgot about." The thundercloud gathering on Snape's face was all the answer the headmaster received to let him know he had gone too far. Even without the former student suddenly getting up and walking out the door hastily without so much as a goodbye or good day.

Snape was furious; he had never been questioned about his family like that. He didn't like talking about his family and everyone knew to leave the subject alone. Now the old coot had not only questioned him, but implied he was lying about it by going further and asking about people in Germany. Of all the nerve, the old man really had lost it. Snape continued to fume and stomp his way out of the castle and to the apparition point. He ended his journey right in front of the Malfoy gates to their mansion. Another pompous and totally useless family was the Malfoys. Well, not completely useless, they did have some redeeming features. He was here to discuss his meeting with the headmaster.

After being greeted at the door by a house elf, this was reminiscent of the meeting he had just come from; he was shown to the small library where Lucius was waiting for him. He relayed all the information that had progressed from the meeting, including Dumbledore asking about relatives from Germany. It was enough to embellish to the Dark Lord to give him some information so they may not get crucio-ed. They hoped they could find out more before the next Death Eater meeting. They had only joined upon graduation, the Dark Lord saying he had no time for untrained troops. Some of their ranks were actually in auror training as well. Since Severus had a passion and talent for potions and Lucius was already a business owner through his father, they were both excused from trying to get auror training with the others.

In another part of the country, another floo call was going on, but this one was to Gringotts Bank to contact an under staffer goblin Coshin. He was one of the underlings that handled low profile accounts. "Yes sir, Mr. Weasley. We sent a parchment to your home asking if you would like to be a part of a new product line development. Prince Home Products are a part of Prince Conglomerate." The goblin knew this would give Mr. Weasley pause to think.

"Well, isn't that a surprise." Arthur rested his head on one of his palms and thought about this for a few minutes. Everyone was trying to find out who wrote that book, the same company contacts the them and no one knows anything about them. The family had received a copy of it, but the Weasleys didn't bother to get another copy after Charlie was playing dragon and burned half of it. They hadn't really had time to read it.

"Did they say why they contacted us?" Arthur asked cautiously.

"Oh, yes sir," the goblin replied. "I submitted your name as someone who might want to help. I gathered that you are not the only family, that may be contacted, but it would give you a good floo system and they would pay someone to test the system and different types of floo powder. It seemed like something your wife could do while staying home with the children." The goblin smiled with his very menacing toothy grin. "The company comes very highly recommended."

"I know the goblin Brunsck has helped you with loans in the past when funds were low and he said the company comes very highly recommended by Griphook, who is the Potter family's account manager."

"How do we know the company is safe? They will be coming into our home and doing something with the floo system, right? I have a family to protect."

Coshin however was not happy with this question and you could see it in his face. "I know that this is Head Manager Gorbink's personal project and he is of the highest caliber."

Mr. Weasley, seeing he had offended the young goblin, quickly stated, "I was just very surprised that anyone would go to that much trouble for us, but I guess you are helping a client." Maybe he gets money for suggesting someone Author thought.

"I don't think it would hurt to see what these people have to offer. Alright Coshin, Mrs. Weasley and I will see them together. The ministry will let me off for an afternoon and we could have tea together to discuss this."

Arthur took his leave and turned back to his wife and five boys. Merlin his knees hurt when having a lengthy floo call. As he watched his pregnant wife struggle with one of the twins he was thinking about how he had so wanted a girl this time, but they already knew that Molly was pregnant with their sixth boy. He hugged and kissed Molly as soon as he stepped away from the fireplace and told her what the goblin had said. They sent their owl Errol with an invitation for the Princes to come the next afternoon for tea and to discuss the mini floo.

"Umph." Severus woke up in a panic as he was lying next to Harry thrashing around. An arm had struck him across the chest. Harry moved around kicking the covers and moaning "No… Don't want to… Need Sev… Can't… NNNOOOOOO!" the young man screamed before sitting up in the bed and suddenly coming awake.

"Harry, are you alright?" Severus tried to hold the young man that was still thrashing around in the bed. As soon as he had his arms around his lover, Harry screamed again "NO!" and threw him off. Severus was afraid to touch him again until he was out of the nightmare that had a hold on him.

"Harry?" Severus tried to wake his lover slowly. "Can you hear me?"

He watched as the younger man tried to get a hold of himself. He was panting in raspy breaths and trying to shake the terror of the nightmare he had just had. As his breathing slowed and he became aware of his surroundings he apologized to his mate.

"I am so sorry Severus. I didn't mean to wake you. It was just a nightmare, we can go back to sleep now."

"Not until you tell me about the dream, Harry. Believe me; it will help to talk about it. Otherwise you may repeat it. Please tell me what has you so upset."

"I don't really want to talk about it."

Severus put his hand on Harry's cheek, gently turning his face so that he could tenderly kiss that temping mouth. Then he softly said, "Tell me." Harry sighed into the kiss and didn't say anything so Severus kissed him again and said "Tell me." Again Harry didn't say anything but he started untangling himself from the covers that were twisted around his waist.

Once more Severus kissed his lover and said, "Tell me."

Harry sighed and looked at the man he loved more than anything. "It was just a bad dream, nothing more."

"Then tell me what it was about."

"I was in the Gryffindor common room, Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were there and were trying to force me to drink a love potion. Ron and Hermione were holding me down as I struggled to get away. They were saying that it was Ginny's turn to babysit and Mrs. Weasley was holding a vial to my mouth, pinching my nose so that I would swallow the potion. I told them no and that I needed you to be there, but they said you were not coming, that you hated me. It was just a dream, nothing real."

"Well, then you can get under the covers and we will go back to sleep if you want. I believe this dream is just anxiety about going to see the Weasleys tomorrow. Maybe going there and meeting them will make you feel better, like it did with Petunia. You are not the young boy you once were and they are not as old as you remember."

Severus lifted the covers they had straightened to coax Harry into snuggling down and getting closer.

"Yeow!" Severus shouted. "Harry, your feet are like ice. Why are you so cold?"

"I guess I got uncovered a while ago. I need you to warm me up." He said with a smirk.

"If this happens again, you are going to wear socks to bed from now on. Come here then brat, while I pretend I am a warming charm."

Both men rearranged the covers so that Harry and Severus were snuggled under them and they slept soundly for the rest of the night.

A/N Thank you to all my reviewers, especially Jessy who pointed out my grammar mistake. I try to catch everything, but my beta has started college and has not been able to edit any chapters since ten or eleven. The next chapter will be out on Wednesday. You guys Rock!!!!


	39. What's a Mini Floo?

Posted: 27 October 2009

Chapter 39: What's a Mini Floo?

Harry and Becca had just received a floo call that morning from Gorbink. Apparently the Weasleys had checked with the bank about them. They had initially received a letter of introduction from Gringotts but it seems one of the kids had gotten to it and they couldn't find it. Both of them were surprised that they had checked up on them, but since they had a family to protect it was understood. Severus joined the conversation as he sat down for breakfast.

"Harry, are you sure you are up to this? You can't afford to lose your temper while visiting. Perhaps we should send Shashi or maybe Regulus. You don't really have to go." Severus had been thinking about this since the nightmare last night. He was not sure Harry would be able to rein in his temper or worse being intimated by them. Seeing these people for the first time since they had come would be very difficult for the young man.

"No Sev, I don't want to send someone else. I don't even want Becca going, but if we are to do this, this is the best way. Becca and I are going to pose as brother and sister. We will have some glamour on. I will not look so much like a Potter, just in case they know the family. I can face this, it should be fun. It's like with Petunia; every time she sees us she can't get away fast enough and goes into the house."

Severus could see that Harry was determined to do this so he did not press the issue. "So you are leaving me here alone? My own fiancé is not even going to be here for the entire day?"

"Sev, you know I promised Reg I would go with him today. You could come too, you know. You don't have to be here making potions and working on the werewolf's cure all the time. I will be home as soon as I can, but I am looking forward to going. I want to see some more of the company and look at Diagon Alley and some of the customers for the vending machine. Then after I will come back here to clean up before I have to face the Weasleys. It should be quite a nice day, and Regulus can come over and keep you company while I am gone this afternoon taking care of business." Severus winced, not because he didn't like Reg but because it would be the first time since Harry was healed that they had spent that much time apart. Or he should amend that to 'that much time apart when leaving the building'. He had spent time away from Harry in the lab when getting the potions for Remus. He mentally winced at how Harry had felt neglected and had thought he was unwanted. He sighed and looked at his lover.

"Alright, I guess I will have to suffer through it. Be safe, take some portkeys and make sure you have your wand and Becca?" he turned to face her. "Don't do anything to attract attention. I don't want anything to happen to you either." She had decided to go along with the boys to get out of the house too.

"Yes sir. I'll be careful and I will make sure Harry does the same." Becca agreed with Severus, this afternoon was going to be difficult for Harry and she hoped he could pull it off.

After breakfast, when Harry and Severus finally got up and dressed for the day, Severus faced his young lover and asked him, "Am I going to have to worry about you spending all day without my company? Today with Regulus and this evening with the Weasleys, whatever shall I do with my time?" Severus was sporting a smile on his face and put his arms around the green eyed beauty.

"I imagine you won't really miss me once you get back into your lab. You have spent the last few days with me and I think you may want more intelligent conversation, even if it is with yourself." Harry joked and ducked as Severus tried to smack him lightly on the back of his head.

"Watch it brat, you may find yourself on the outside of our bedroom door if you don't play nice."

"I already played nice this morning; you will just have to wait till this evening for a repeat performance." Harry volleyed back as he left the room, Severus was trailing behind him.

Hummmmm yes, nice perky bottom, too bad Harry had other people to meet because right now Severus wanted to go back for that repeat performance, now not later. Damn if that young man didn't wiggle it just because he knew Severus was looking at him. Severus reigned in his inner emotions (he refused to admit it was hormones at his age) and walked up to Harry to pat his 'nice perky bottom' as they made their way out of the kitchen. It was going to be a long day without him here.

Regulus was already at the table with Becca when Harry walked back in, ready for his day out. All three of them had on Prince Conglomerate robes that signified them as upper management. Becca and Harry had not been to the printing company and they didn't want to have issues with security if they separated.

Harry called for Kreacher as he had entered the dining room. As the wizened elf appeared before him, he told him, "Kreacher, we will be gone most of the day. Don't let anyone in this area and please make sure Fawkes is fed. I noticed his treats were running a little low."

"Very good, Master." Kreacher responded with a slight bow and popped out. He had a much better attitude now from being around the other elves. No mumbling under his breath, no comments about mudbloods and blood traitors and his vocabulary seemed to have improved.

"Harry," Regulus was saying "I don't know what you did to that elf, but I think I need to bring the other one here so you can do that to him too."

"Oh no, Reg, one Kreacher is about all anyone can handle. We have enough elves thank you." He replied with a smirk. When they were all ready, Harry, Becca and Reg took off to see the publishing house. Becca wanted to gather a few gifts for tonight's meeting and Severus went to the lab to work on a few potions that he found notes for in the war room.

The trio had a great time. The publishing house was similar to the houses they lived in, muggle up top and the underground was the wizard area. This seemed to be the theme of Becca's entire placement of businesses. She certainly didn't take any chances in the wizarding world. Considering her background, it was no surprise.

Harry had wondered for some time why Becca had so many escape routes from the underground manor and the other businesses, but now he realized that it was because she didn't really have the power to fight in a battle. Her escape routes allowed her some form of security in case they were attacked.

So the company had the muggle publishing house as a cover for the wizard. It wasn't a bad idea, and if someone caught on to the dynamics of this, they still wouldn't know everything else. If someone tried looking for them, they would have to find out what the muggle businesses were first to track down the company. When the businesses were bought, most of the former names didn't change with the sale. To find Prince Conglomerate, you would have to know what muggle business was bought and what muggle name they were currently under, literally. The whole company was buried under a mountain of muggle politics and paperwork.

The two younger men were laughing and reminiscing about the day, when they entered the dining room where Severus was having a late lunch. He noticed the happy open expression on his lover's face and could not remember ever seeing him so relaxed and carefree, even before they found out about the lies and deceptions. A small part of his heart constricted in jealously as he saw Harry and Regulus interact like two teenagers should, which they were, but it was something Sev wanted for himself. No sooner had the seeds of jealously started to unfurl when Harry caught sight of his lover and jumped over to him and squashed the jealously completely.

"Sev," Harry sighed as he ran over to his lover. "You should have been with us. We had such a good time." Harry put his arms around his lover's neck and whispered in his ear, "I missed you terribly, did you get a lot of work done in the lab?" Harry laid his head on the older man's shoulder to listen to his heartbeat and absorb some of its love and warmth. He felt so safe in this man's arms.

"I missed you too, Harry, and yes I did get quite a bit of work completed today." He leaned back to look at the young man's face. "Did you have fun today?"

"It was really funny and interesting to see the vending machine in Diagon Alley without us being there. Did you know we have a mirror like the ones at Hogwarts that shows the immediate area of the kiosk? Then we watched all the printing presses going, you should have been there. Next time we go, I want you to come too." Harry's face was flushed with excitement and rushing around. He leaned up to kiss Sev who gratefully took the younger lips in a brief passionate kiss letting everyone in the room know just who this young man belonged to, as it they didn't know already. He was happy Harry was back in his arms. They would be talking about the wedding date soon.

They had a small lunch in the dining room and conversed about the upcoming meeting that evening.

Harry was the first to point out "Sev, do you think the headmaster might be there? I don't really know when the relationship between the Weasleys and the Headmaster started. Are they a part of the order? The more I think about it the more I realize that we may end up facing him today. The last time I saw that man he wanted to pour a potion down my throat and make me fall in love with that girl." Harry felt a shudder run up his spine just thinking about being with a girl instead of his Severus. "Do you think we should be worried?"

"Remember, Harry, he doesn't know who you are, but I was working on a potion today that would render the effects of veritaserum completely nil. You may try it if you think it will be a problem." Severus informed him.

"Constant vigilance, that's what Moody would say and it's not a bad idea. Is it safe for Becca to take with being pregnant?" Harry wanted to know.

"It won't be necessary, Harry. I can do a spell to check the food, anything that doesn't seem right I can just say something about morning sickness that lasts all day. It would get sympathy from Molly and the men will just groan about it being a woman troubles." Becca smirked.

"I also will spell the food and see if there is anything in it. I think I could just vanquish it off the spoon as I am eating, but just in case I will take the antidote with me. We can't be too careful. I know the headmaster had asked Remus to meet him to find information on us."

"About Remus, he came over here today while you were gone. I do believe the old coot is trying to find us and he seems pretty desperate from Remus' report." Severus changed the subject of the meeting to go over everything Remus had spoken to him about. "One thing he asked Remus, that I haven't given much thought to yet, was about the cure. He asked Remus if a werewolf were to bite someone who had been given the cure, what would happen. It sounded like he thought he could make Remus a werewolf again."

"Would he really try that? Have Remus attacked by another werewolf?" Becca asked in horror.

The three of them looked at each other and all spoke at one time. "Oh, yes."

"Another thing is that Severus Snape was also there, he arrived at the end of Remus' meeting. Evidently the headmaster asked for a meeting with him too. I am assuming that he connected the name Prince and wanted to ask the Severus of this time line questions."

"Does he know anything about the family that might affect us?" Harry asked in response to Sev's statement. "Would you even talk to the old coot at that age?"

"I would be about nineteen now, and no I don't think there is anything he would know that would effect us." Severus thought for a moment and shook his head as if in deep thought. "No, I am sure I didn't know anything that could expose us. Remus did say that he was able to get him a message and a portkey. Maybe he will do the smart thing and get in touch with us."

When they finished Harry and Becca freshened up and put on another set of suitable classy work robes and presented themselves in the sitting room. Both had on royal blue robes with the Prince Conglomerate buttons with a light blue silk shirt for Harry and a more stylish blouse for Becca. Harry wore black pants while Becca had on a royal blue skirt to match the robes. Both outfits were very high quality silk and they both had their wands strapped to their arms with a hidden holster up the sleeve. One of the head builders named Castings had already arrived in his best royal blue company uniform to make his way with the Princes.

Once they all had taken hold of the scarf they portkeyed into the front yard of the Burrow.

As soon as they landed, Molly and Arthur Weasley were at the front door greeting them. You could see Molly was about six months pregnant and there were several children surrounding them as well. They were ushered into the living room and asked to sit down and tea was already placed on the small table in the room. Just when everyone was introduced (including the kids), Harry was able to start to relax, he was thinking 'I can do this, they don't know me and I can do this'.

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Weasley I am Rebecca Prince and this is my brother Harold Prince, we have come to tell you about a mini floo we would like to test in your home. The goblin is Supervisor Castings and, with your permission of course, will take a look at the house to see what would need to be done to accommodate something we call the mini floo."

"I am very please to meet you, Mister and Mistress Prince. You look younger that I had thought and I do not believe I have ever seen you at Hogwarts?" Mr. Weasley said.

"No sir," Becca replied "We are from Australia and have been home schooled. My brother recently was married to Severs Prince and as our home was attacked and destroyed we have joined him in expanding his business to other countries. My brother and I were traveling through Baden in Germany visiting various vineyards when he met his mate, so now, to cut a long story short, we are here to help expand in the UK .

"That's an interesting story Mistress Prince; you said your home was attacked?" The man queried.

"War is every, Mr. Weasley, you should know that." Becca said in a tone that didn't allow for any more questions on the subject.

"Yes, quite. So tell us what is a 'mini floo'?"

It was Harry's turn to speak. "It is a smaller version of the fireplace that is connected to the floo but is about waist high. You don't have to kneel on the floor to answer the floo or to make a call. Since it is smaller you also don't have to worry about unwelcome visitors. No one can come through the mini floo because of its size and the large floo can be shut off to not accept visitors but you can still get messages. My sister thought of it one day after hearing our great grand father complaining about getting down on the floor to talk to someone." Once Harry got into the explanation of the idea, he was really excited about it.

"How about we have some tea and discuss this further." Molly said as she got up and started serving tea to everyone. Harry could see three children staring from around the door in the kitchen. He smiled at the younger versions of Bill, Charlie and Percy and wondered where the twins were.

As they were each handed small plates with biscuits, Harry unobtrusively ran his hand over his plate with a silent spell. It glowed clear in color so he quickly cast another spell at Becca's plate to make sure she would be safe also. Once he could see the plate was clean, he bumped her with his foot to get her attention, but she nodded just a fraction to indicate she understood.

They spent the next hour discussing details and what the company wanted. It was going to be a lot of work because Supervisor Castings had slipped them a report on what needed to be strengthened in the house just to be sure it didn't fall on anyone. It was smaller than he remembered and he thought that was because they added as the family grew. Harry started wondering if this was not the problem in the first place; them needing repairs and Dumbledore taking advantage of yet another person in need. He decided he would help them fix the house without them knowing about it under the guise of repairs for the floo system, if they accepted the contract.

As the meeting came to a close, Becca handed Molly a jar of their special healing paste, saying it was excellent for diaper rash and scrapes and scratches. It was a fairly large container so it would last a very long time. She also gave Molly two children's story books to read to the children and a book of lullabies for children. Then the subject changed to the publishing company.

"These biscuits are really good." Becca mentioned after tasting one. "And the pastries are just mouthwatering, too. Do you like to cook?"

"Well, with out growing family, it is a necessity." Mrs. Weasley chuckled as she was patting her stomach, and indicated with the other hand the kids in the doorway watching them.

"My Molly's the best cook around." Mr. Weasley interjected. "Everyone loves her cooking."

"Maybe you should write a cookbook. We have a publishing company and would welcome a chance to do one. I think it would go over really well." Becca suggested.

"I never thought about it. I am so busy and who would buy one? I don't really see that many wizarding families wanting a cookbook. Most of them have elves that cook for them."

"Mrs. Weasley, there are more and more squib born and muggle raised coming into our world everyday. They don't know the spells and how to cook with magic. I understand that it is not even taught at Hogwarts either except for a few charms. I think it would be a really great idea, and there would be no hurry. I won't say do it in your spare time, as I can see you don't have any. But if you would like we could send a writer over here to watch you cook and they could write your book for you. We publish books all the time." Harry looked at Becca as she said that. She always seemed to have another project going and a solution for everything. She really seemed sincere in doing this for the Weasleys.

"We did publish a book of facts about Voldemort." Harry said and watched as they cringed. He smirked at them. "Perhaps you have read it?"

Mr. Weasley shook his head, a sheepish look on his face and explained. "I did get one while at work the first day, but I am afraid our second oldest son Charlie demonstrated a wonderful bout of accidental magic while playing Dragons." Arthur slightly smiled at the memory. "He burned it before we could stop him and get a chance to read it."

Harry smirked at that, knowing how much Charlie loved dragons. "I think we can make sure another one is sent here if you are interested in reading it." Harry assured them.

Harry and Becca stood up and bid their hosts farewell. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley thanked them for all their kind help and promised to look over the final contract that weekend and talk it over.

When the two Princes arrived at Prince Stronghold, Severus was anxiously waiting to see how things went. He was actually trying to see how Harry was doing after having faced those people for the first time. But when Harry stumbled and nearly fell (into the waiting arms of Severus) he had a grin on his face.

"That was brilliant!" Harry stated as Severus helped him stand upright again. "I didn't realize how much fun this could be when no one knows me and I know all this stuff about them. It's like having a secret and pranking everyone all at the same time. I pretend I don't know them and they don't know I am pretending or that I know anything about their family." Severus gave a little chuckle at the exuberance on Harry's face. Harry was babbling so much about his trip; Severus almost didn't understand everything he was trying to say. He was hoping things would turn out this way, but wanted to be ready for the worst. This was the same reaction he had with Petunia for the first time too. The idea of being anonymous hadn't quite sunk in yet, but he was starting to learn.

Severus put a stern mask on his face and turned to Harry, who was still clinging to him for balance. "I believe you made a promise this morning and have forgotten your obligations." He used is cold Professor Snape persona that he knew would rattle the most obedient of students.

"What? What did I do wrong?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"You, Mr. soon to be Prince," Severus growled as he picked Harry up, holding him firmly in his arms, "are forgetting about a repeat performance that you are commanded to provide immediately."

Harry waved goodbye to Becca and actually laughed as Severus started tickling his side as he held him. The older lover was making his way around, down the hallway, to their bedroom and was ready to extract his repeat performance as he had missed his Harry all day.

However, just as they were entering the bedroom, alarms started going off, an almost deafening sound reverberating through the manor. Becca rushed after them and screamed above the noise.

"We have incoming! Someone has activated the emergency portkeys and I think there are Death Eaters among them! A dark mark has entered the first level!"

A/N Next chapter will be posted on Friday evening 30 October. Hope you enjoyed it.


	40. Muggleborn or Squib Born

Posted: 29 October 2009

Chapter 40: Muggleborn or Squib Born

It was the third day after Christmas before Lily could get an appointment at Gringotts. James kept telling her that the book was wrong and she just couldn't get up her Gryffindor courage in motion to call until yesterday. So, in her most business like robes she made her way to Gringotts Bank to see the Potter account head. Griphook greeted her as soon as he saw her come in. She acknowledged the goblin politely and followed him to the meeting room that was indicated.

Inside the spacious room there was an old massive oak antique desk at least five feet long, it was shorter than an ordinary desk but she realized it must be made to accommodate the size of the goblins at the bank. There were two cushioned high back chairs in front of the desk and Lily proceeded to sit down.

"Now Lady Potter, is your husband going to be joining us today?" Griphook asked politely.

"No, he has some other things to do and just escorted me to the door. I am to firecall him when I am ready to leave."

"Very well then, we will get started." The goblin said, taking out a small chalice with runes around the edge and a parchment. The chalice had some kind of opaque colored liquid in it already. "You will cut your index finger and place three drops of blood into this chalice. After that we will pour the liquid onto the parchment and your genealogy will appear. Are you ready to begin?"

Lily nodded her head and lifted the dagger to put a small cut into her index finger. She carefully held her finger and dropped three drops of blood into the container, then watched as the goblin spoke in a language she was not able to identify. When the liquid swirled in the bowl for a few minutes, the goblin very carefully poured it onto the parchment. The liquid began writing on the paper as if it were a quill of ink and started with her unborn child at the top and made its way down to the bottom where the names of the four founders could be seen. Next to the names, sporadically throughout the list, there were different symbols that looked to be runes. She wasn't sure what all this meant and she wished James were here, but he didn't think this was even necessary. He, along with Sirius, kept insisting the book was wrong and just a joke.

"What does all this mean?" Lily gasped in awe. She hadn't expected anything like this. The goblin was giving her a few moments to collect herself and then started to explain.

"It means that you are not muggleborn. It means that you descended from many squib born. The symbols you see next to the name indicate squib born, muggle or magical. You are the fifty fourth so called 'muggleborn' to come in here in the last two days. All of them proved, through the same inheritance test, to be squib born. Some had vaults that were being held here as abandoned believing the family had died out. Others didn't have vaults but were still proved to be of prominent pureblood families. We have not seen one true muggleborn since that book came out. Years ago, when we tried to bring this knowledge forth we were blocked by the Wizengamot. We do not, as a rule, involve ourselves in the affairs of wizards so we did not pursue the subject."

"Does this mean I am a pureblood like my husband?" Lily was trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she was not muggle born.

The goblin tried to explain as best as he could. "You are not pureblood, but most purebloods are not either. You do have a few muggles throughout your blood line as some of your squib relatives married muggles. If the squibs had stayed in the magical world and married a witch or wizard, we would not be having this conversation. You would have been raised in the wizarding world."

"Meaning my parents, instead of being squibs, would have been a witch and wizard."

"Yes. You also have a vote on the Wizengamot that has not been used by your family in several generations."

"Why was I never told this before?"

"You didn't come in to take the test and find out what your rightful heritage was."

"What am I to do now? I mean, how do I claim my inheritance?" Lily asked.

"You have already done that. The vault, of the Evans line that was believed to have died out long ago, is now yours."

"How much money is there and how do I access it?" Lily still was in shock about actually having her own money in Gringotts.

"You may go see your vault now, if you wish, or you may get a money exchange card." The goblin said in a very business like manner.

"I would like to go to my vault and see what is in it and then, if possible, I would also like to get a money card that I can use for shopping."

Then, following Griphook to the cart area, she got in and took the wild ride to see the Evans vault. They didn't find much, a few books, a few family heirlooms and the money of course. Her statement read over one million galleons and she was delighted that she now had her own money. Not that James ever said anything and would always provide for her, but it was nice to be able to spend some of her own money at times. It was not as much as James, but the books looked interesting and she found a book that the goblin said once belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw.

"In this book there is a spell that you can use to help protect your unborn son. You and your husband both must participate in the ritual spell." As the young woman picked up the book, she didn't question how the goblin knew that. They seemed to know many things that she didn't understand. She started to shrink the book to take with her. Griphook stopped her before she could get the spell out.

"That is a very old and fragile book. It belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw herself. You don't want to shrink it or do anything else to it, in fact I would not even take the floo with it, the knight bus would be best. Also we should camouflage it so no one else can tell what it is."

With a wave of his hand the goblin had changed the cover of the book to read Household Tips for the Busy Witchwife.

"What happened to the other books that used to be here?" She could see that there were empty spaces on the shelves that used to hold other books.

"We are trying to track them down. It looks as if someone tried to claim your vault before now and took a few things. There are a few hundred thousand galleons missing also but we will find who it is and bring them to trial." Actually, Griphook already knew who it was but Gorbink had told him not to say anything until the time was right. "We ask that you not say anything before the culprit is caught. We do not want word to spread about this. Please don't even tell your husband."

Lily made a promise not to say anything and Griphook nodded his head in approval of her oath and led her back to the cart for the return roller coaster ride to the foyer. They had not gone to the very bowels of the vaults but the Evans vault was about halfway. They left the Ravenclaw vaults alone as those would go to Harry and not to her. Harry had been adopted as an heir, he was not an actual direct descendent and even though the Evans did descend from a Ravenclaw squib, Harry was already predestined to use the information in the vaults so they were sealed until his coming of age.

On the ride back, Griphook reflected on the different attitudes of the two Potters. Lily always treated him with respect where James always treated him as most other wizards have done in the past. He wondered if it was a muggle thing. Harry Prince had also treated him with respect when he visited on their Christmas Eve, but then so did everyone in the house.

When Lily entered the foyer of the bank again, she turned around and bowed to the little goblin that had been so much help. "Do I need to share my vault contents with my sister?"

Griphook shook his head in the negative as he answered her question. "Gringotts vaults are for witches and wizards. You do not need to share any of your vault with your sister unless she is a witch or squib and even then, if she does not wish to live in the wizarding world, she is not entitled." With that said Griphook gave Lady Potter her vault key and bid her good day.

Lily nodded her head in understanding, thanked the goblin again and made her way to Diagon Alley with her new money exchange card; it was like a credit card. As she was on her way to the Leaky Cauldron to signal for the knight bus, she spotted that vending machine that was featured in the Daily Prophet and went to see if there was anything she wanted. She saw a book called Lullabies Long Forgotten for the Young Witch or Wizard; so quickly used her new card to purchase the book, she then hastily made her way through the crowds to catch the bus, not remembering to floo James.

When she arrived about two hours later, after several stops across the county, she entered her home and there were James and Sirius sitting in the family room playing a game of chess.

"Who's winning?" she called out from the doorway when she found them.

"Where have you been? Did you go shopping after you left the bank? I was waiting for the floo call and here you are." James sounded a little irritated but Lily knew he was just worried about her.

"When I finished at the bank I did look around Diagon Alley for awhile then I took the knight bus home." Lily informed him.

"Why did you take the Knight Bus? We never use that method of transportation. It's a ghastly ride." James exclaimed.

"I've never been on it and wanted to try it. You have always had a portkey or apperated me somewhere and now I apparate everywhere. I wanted to do something different."

"Yeah, well that bus is different," was the sarcastic comment out of Sirius' mouth.

Sirius, always wanting to be the center of attention asked, "So what did Gringotts tell you? Are you from some famous line of magical folk that hid you away?" he joked. He was not really ready for Lily's answer.

"Oh, yes it turns out that the Evans were in fact magical about two centuries ago. Also I am from a squib line of Ravenclaw's although not a direct heir. There was a vault there that had a few books and a little over a million galleons, but other than that not much happened to me today. How about you? Anything interesting happen with you?" Lily smirked at the speechless and stunned expression of the two men then left the room so they could think about it for a minute. She headed for the kitchen to make tea and pull out some biscuits she had made earlier that day.

She laughed to herself as the two men soon followed her to hear what she had to say about that afternoon. They still thought muggleborns were just that, from muggles.

"So what did the goblins really have to say?" Sirius demanded. "You were just joking about the vault weren't you?"

Lily pulled out her money card and showed it to James. When she tapped it with her wand, it gave a balance of what was in the account, two taps would give you the day's transactions but she didn't want him to know she used the vending machine in the Alley. He would only give here a lecture about being careful and dangers of possible Death Eaters about.

"Whoa, Lily, that is some serious card you have there! You weren't joking were you?" James exclaimed as he realized that his wife was telling the truth.

"Griphook told me I was the fifty fourth so called 'muggleborn' to come in over the last two days and all of them, without fail, took the inheritance test to find out they were from a squib line."

"We should tell Dumbledore right away." Sirius was actually reaching for the floo pot when Lily said. "NO!"

Sirius turned around and looked at the young woman like she had two heads and asked, "Why not? He should know about this. You are a lost relative of Ravenclaw and could have access to other vaults that they didn't tell you about."

"Sirius, I am not the direct Ravenclaw heir and I am not going to claim to be!" Lily was getting angry and they could tell by her flushed face and flashing eyes that she meant what she said. Sometimes she just got so exasperated with Sirius wanting to fight the war and report everything to Dumbledore. "There is no reason to tell anyone only to have reporters and every curious person out there at our door. I don't have access to Ravenclaw's money nor any other items, so why create mass confusion for us? We like living without the rest of the public being around.

"Alright, I won't tell him." He said with a shrug, clearly not understanding her reasoning on the subject. "It was only a suggestion, I thought you would be happy to be able to say you are not muggleborn and the book was right and we were wrong." Sirius backed off away from the floo pot, both hands in the air like he was being held up and sat back down at the table.

"Who was right or wrong does not matter. I don't feel the need to tell everything to Headmaster Dumbledore, especially over an **unsecured** floo connection. This is not that important and we don't need to bother him with every little detail of our lives. If he asks at the next meeting I will tell him then." Lily placated him. She kept remembering the inscription on the dedication page of the book that started all of this, and was wondering if it wasn't a warning of some kind. When she had tried to discuss it with James he just dismissed it as inconsequential.

"What I don't understand, is why this information was hidden. Dumbledore knows everything and has so much information and deals with muggleborns everyday. Why didn't he know it?" Lily speculated. "And for that matter, why are the purebloods trying to hide the fact?"

The two men in front of her didn't know the answers either, but they didn't think it was that important. Lily gave up trying to make them understand. All they knew was they didn't know and being purebloods, they assumed all the others didn't know either.

Meanwhile, at another location...

At the Prince household, Severus had unceremoniously dropped Harry to his feet; Becca was donning her basilisk skin cloak. "We have to get to the receiving room on level one immediately. We don't know how many were attacked and who it is!" The alarms were still screeching and Becca had to shout to make herself heard.

"Can we shut these things off?" Severus tried to scream above the noise.

"Only from the first level. They will continue to sound until the breach has been investigated and contained."

Severus nodded his head, looked to Harry who nodded also and proceeded through the living quarters to get upstairs. Both the men had wands in hand.

As they turned into the sitting area they noticed Doc, Shashi and Gorbink were there. Severus assumed they must have some kind of device that told them of the alarm. The three Princes nodded at them and they all quickly continued on their way to the elevators.

At the second level First Born met them outside the elevator. After creating a sound bubble around them, Becca started hissing at him and asked, "_Do you know who is on the first level?"_

_"Master's Becca, the werewolf that is not, who has been here before is there with many people. Some are hurt badly. He has with him two that have an evil mark. The rest of The Seven are watching them and have them in a corner. They need help."_ The snake hissed his answer.

Of course, Harry, Severus and Becca understood everything, but they forgot Doc, Gorbink and Shashi did not. So as Harry picked up the snake and the three continued to the next level, releasing the sound bubble, Doc shouted above the noise that continued to blare.

"Becca, what is going on?"

"We have to hurry, Doc. First Born said there are many hurt people on the first level and Remus is there with them. Can you call the others?"

Just as they opened the elevator to climb to the first level, Regulus came and was shouting trying to find out what happened. With a motion from Becca, he joined the party to the first level.

What they witnessed on the next level was utter chaos. About twenty men, women and children were in various stages of injuries. To the left of the room were six basilisk snakes raised up and hissing at two of the most unlikely people they thought to see today, Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy. The look of horror on their faces assured the others they were not going anywhere. They could not even fire of a spell in fear of the others.

On the other side of the room, were all the others trying to stay as far away from the snakes as possible. Some were unconscious and had been pulled away from the scene with the snakes. Others looked to be barely conscious and still others were white with the fright of seeing so many snakes or maybe from what ever attacked, Severus wasn't sure.

First things first, as the healers went to see to the injured, Becca called to Harry and they went over to another panel by the elevator that Harry hadn't seen before. Becca hollered into Harry's ear. "Can you create a sound bubble like the one I did downstairs? Also I would rather not have anyone else see what we are about to do."

Harry hadn't seen the bubble before, but he created a shield like the one in the alley. It was not see through and would filter out some of the noise. As the sound was muted, Becca turned to the panel in front of them.

Placing her palm on the panel, she stated. "Rebecca Elizabeth Prince, Prince Stronghold Level One All is Secure." Immediately the alarms ceased and Harry's ears were ringing in the complete silence. Slowly the other noises in the background were filtering through the ringing. As he and Becca were taking care of the alarms, six other healers had portkeyed in to help. Doc was screaming orders as the silence hadn't registered with him yet. Severus was shouting orders to the elves.

"Kreacher! You and a few other elves go to the potions lab and bring back all of the healing potions you can find, including pain relievers, blood replenishes, salve and bone mending. Hurry!" As Kreacher took a few elves with him to collect the potions, still others were bringing in beds so that the healers could do their work and not have patients on the floor.

Becca grabbed Harry's arm to get his attention through all the chaos surrounding them and said, "You and Regulus need to go upstairs. These alarms would have been heard throughout the neighborhood and likely the police have been called. Take First Born and Second Born with you and tell the police your pet snakes set off the alarm and apologize for the aggravation. Then, come back down here and help. We don't need any suspicion from the muggles about what is going on here." Becca had been speaking softly into Harry's ear as she didn't want anyone else to hear her. No one else suspected they were in a muggle neighborhood or underground for that matter.

"Reg, come over here!" Harry called. "We have to go take care of something and will be back in a few minutes." Harry then picked up Second Born, hissed at him briefly and wrapped him around Reg's shoulders. Regulus glared at him with wide eyes and Harry said. "Say hello to your new pet." Harry laughed at Reg as he swallowed hard when the snake hissed at him and settled into a better position around his shoulders. The truth was, Reg hated those snakes and had not touched one since he had been here, and now Harry was making him hold the damn thing.

As they made their way to the number five muggle dwelling, Harry explained the plan to Reg. Just as they entered the foyer, there was pounding on the door and the words, "Open UP!!! Police!" being screamed by someone on the other side of the door.

Harry tersely said to Reg, "Put you wand out of sight." Then he reached for the doorknob and opened the door.

There in front of him were no less than five police officers; two with their guns drawn and, two holding a battering ram ready to break down the door. The fifth officer seemed to be the one that was banging on the door while the others appeared to be his backup. 'Merlin' Harry thought, good thing we came up here.

"Hello, officers, I am sorry for all the confusion, my pet snake accidentally got out of its tank and set off the alarm. We will be more careful in the future."

But the officer was not hearing him. He looked at the two young men and demanded "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"I live here and this is a friend of mine that lives on the next street." Harry felt like he should only answer the man's questions and not try to move. He wasn't sure if they would shoot and ask questions later.

"Do you have proof?"

"Yeah, sure, but I need to reach for my wallet." The police officer came closer as if to check the man's pants himself, but got a look at the snake around the younger man's neck and backed off.

The commanding police officer then noticed the outfits they were wearing. Harry still had his Prince Conglomerate Robes on from visiting the Weasleys and Reg also was in working robes from that day, not having changed before the alarms went off.

"What is your name?" demanded the officer of Harry.

"Harry Prince."

"I want you to slowly reach for your wallet and make no fast moves. You will open it slowly and show me your identification." Harry did as instructed but wondered why he was not asking Reg to do the same.

As the officer looked at the documents Harry handed him, he visibly relaxed and turned around to the men behind them. "You can stand down." The other officers gave him a strange look, but holstered their weapons and waited for further instructions.

"Is everything alright here, Mr. Prince? Your alarms have half the neighborhood in a panic."

"It was an accident and we are sorry for any distress we have created. The snakes got out of their tank and tripped the motion detector in the back room."

Just then a thin horsey woman came flying across the yard shouting, "Arrest them officer, I know them to be drug dealers and they obviously are troublemakers."


	41. Surprise Surprise

Posted: 1 November 2009

Chapter 41: Surprise Surprise

As Harry and Reg were taking care of things upstairs, there was a sort of organized chaos below.

The healers each took a person and determined whether or not they needed immediate attention. Severus let them work as he started with the less severe injuries with some of the potions and healing spells he knew. "Where's Harry?" He asked as Becca came up to his side to see what she could do to help.

"I sent him upstairs to deal with things." Becca looked around her and noticed the two Death Eaters still in the corner of the room, now surrounded by five of the snakes. She leaned in closer to speak in Severus' ear and say, "Nobody knows where they are and that we are underground. The muggle police would have been called when the alarms went off. Harry and Reg are taking care of it."

Severus nodded his head as he was feeding another potion to the small child in front of him with a nasty slash down his leg. He placed a gentle hand on the child's head and assured him, "Everything will be alright." He then completed his spells and moved on to the next person as Becca started putting on the salve to heal the wound further. The child's parents were in worse shape and the healers were working furiously trying to close up all the wounds to stop the bleeding.

Becca could see they were fighting a losing battle and called out. "Fawkes! Fawkes we need your help!"

The brilliant fire phoenix flashed into the room and took in the view of the injured people in front of him. He started trilling to calm the humans and Becca stooped down to whisper compassionately in his ear. "The child will lose his parents, can you help?" There were tears in her eyes as she looked at the bird.

Fawkes looked into Becca's eyes and nodded then spread his wings and flew over a man as the healer was working on him. "Doc, I can't figure out what the counter curse is. These wounds keep opening up again! I have already fed him three blood replenishers!"

Doc looked up and saw Fawkes hovering above the man in the bed. "I think you have all the help you need. Look." The other healer moved as Fawkes landed next to the man and cried tears on the slash above the man's heart then moved and cried more tears at the slashes across the abdomen. They watched as the wounds mended together and closed.

Fawkes trilled and started for the leg that was also slashed, but the healer pointed to a woman that also had the severe wounds across her chest and abdomen. "I can get the rest, if you can get to her. She doesn't have much time." So the bird with red plumage went to the next bed to perform the miracle healing on the next victim.

"Severus," Doc shouted from his patient, "do you know what kind of hex this is?" The older man didn't notice that two men had looked up to see who he was talking to. The older one, which was not detained by the snakes, looked at some of the others and answered him.

"Sectemsempra." Severus said with a frown. "I know the counter curse; here let me teach all of you. It is a favorite of a few Death Eaters."

Malfoy and Snape looked at each other with curious looks on their faces. How did this man know that? How did he know the counter curse? Why did he answer to the name Severus? It was not a common name.

Becca, who was watching the two men, walked over and looked at them before picking up Seventh Born. "_Hello, Seventh. Thank you for taking care of these two while we are busy with the other humans. These are not to be trusted and we need to keep them here."_ She then addressed the others, still hissing._ "Thank you all. If they reach for their wands, you can use what ever means you need to keep them here. I don't want you hurt but I don't want them killed."_

"Gentlemen," she said as she turned to address the men. Both of them were white faced with fear as they had heard her speak to the snakes. "These are basilisks and I am sure I don't need to tell you that they can kill you before you could get a spell off. Don't make them mad by trying to use your wands or... moving." She gave them her best smirk, put Seventh Born back down on the floor after kissing the snake's head and turned to go back and help the others.

Upstairs was another story altogether. As soon as Petunia came across the lawn shouting about drug dealers, Harry started to explain to the officer that they were not involved in illegal activity. His heart was racing and he was regretting his little joke on his 'non' aunt, as he liked to call her. As the police officer turned to Mrs. Dursley he asked, "Are you Petunia Dursley?"

"Yes, I am officer. I have reported it before, these people are drug dealers, and they told me themselves!" Petunia was gathering a crowd with her screaming out accusations. She definitely liked to draw a crowd.

"Mrs. Dursley, you need to keep your voice down. Now, do you have any proof of this crime?"

Petunia only screamed louder. "They are drug dealers! You have to arrest them."

The officer shook his head and looked at Harry. "Did you tell her you were drug dealers?"

"No sir," Harry replied. "She asked me what I did and I told her we distribute specialized pharmaceuticals."

"And this woman thought that meant dealing drugs?" Harry just raised his eyebrows and shrugged, it sounded like the officer wasn't going to arrest him right away.

Petunia was still insisting. "You need to arrest him. He told me he deals drugs!"

"Mrs. Dursley, am I correct in assuming that you are the anonymous caller that keeps giving us tips on drug dealers in the neighborhood?" the officer asked her tiredly.

Petunia stuck her nose in the air and refused to answer.

"Did they introduce themselves to you? Do you know their name?" Again Petunia refused to answer. "These people own British Pharmaceuticals which not only has the best homeopathic medicines I have every come across for my diabetes, but also funds most of the 'Drug Free Brittan' program." The officer made sure he was heard by the surrounding neighbors so that the reputation of the inhabitants of the house did not suffer from this foolish horse of a woman. He then turned to Harry and asked him a question.

"Mr. Prince, would you like to press slander charges against this woman?"

Regulus, who was standing there this entire time with the snake around his neck, gave a sort of half cough and told Harry, "I am going to the back and put the snake down."

Harry felt the wash of magic in the form of a silencing spell as soon as he left the room.

Harry, who also was trying not to laugh, smiled to the officer and said, "No sir, I believe I have caused you enough trouble for one night, I didn't mean to set off the alarms."

The officer nodded his head and turned back to a pinched faced Petunia and explained to her, "I don't want to receive any more phone calls about this address. I don't want to hear any more accusations, and I don't want to have to come out here again. Mr. Prince has decided not to press charges so everyone can go home." He gave a pointed look at Petunia and then the rest of the crowd before turning back to speak with Harry.

"I own a house three streets away, because the real estate developers helped me get a loan when my credit suffered while I was sick. They had the same insignia on their uniforms as you have on yours. My sister suffered from depression and has been treated at your research center. Five years ago I almost had to leave my job because my diabetes was so bad the doctors were having a hard time controlling it. Your Pharmaceutical Company helped me with the correct herbs and vitamins so instead of leaving my job, I was promoted. The same insignia on your uniforms is also on my bottles of daily supplements I take every day. I am honored to be able to stand here and say thank you."

Harry was awed by the man in front of him. He actually knew more about his company than he did. However he shook the officer's hand and said. "It's all about us taking care of each other. Thank you for what you did this evening."

The officer nodded as he shook his hand. "Here is my card. If there is anything I can do for you, just call and I will be right over. I didn't realize you moved into this house or I would have offered sooner."

"We only moved in a couple weeks before Christmas, so have not been here long. Thank you for the help." After Harry accepted the card the officer left to make sure the remainder of the neighboring residents disbursed and went home.

As soon as the officer left, Harry started thinking about Petunia's face when she was told about pressing charges. He closed the door and threw up a silencing spell before he just lost it. He started laughing until the tears were streaking down his face, there was a stitch in his side and he still couldn't stop laughing. Regulus heard this and entered the room, without the snake, and looked to see if Harry was alright. He had finally got himself under control but when he saw Harry, he started laughing again. It took both of them a good ten minutes to sober up.

All of a sudden, Harry said "Oh shit, Reg, there are injured people downstairs. Let's go now." He called to Second Born, wrapped him around his neck with First Born and headed back downstairs.

As Harry and Regulus entered the receiving room where everyone was, they saw beds and people being healed. When they looked to the other side of the room, there was Malfoy and Snape, still in the corner not moving a muscle. Harry went over to the other snakes and put his two down.

"Hello, gentlemen, is there anything I can do for you before I go help the others?" Harry wasn't really inclined to do anything for them, but they had been standing there for almost an hour and he thought he would play host.

"We could use some chairs, and would like to know exactly where we are." Malfoy replied, obviously not accustomed to being ignored. Harry called for an elf and had two chairs brought to them.

"Make yourselves comfortable gentlemen. You will be here for a while." Harry told them as he handed them the chairs.

"Where are we?" Malfoy asked again.

"That is something I cannot tell you. You're questions will have to wait until the others are taken care of."

"Can we at least have use of the facilities?" Malfoy again, he just didn't know when to shut up and since he was older, he thought he could intimidate Harry.

"The facilities?... Oh you mean the bathroom. I am sure you know a spell to take care of that. I wouldn't move right now though if I were you. The Seven might get upset."

"The Seven?" This time it was Snape who spoke, almost as if he couldn't stop the words from coming out of his mouth.

"Meet, The Seven." Harry said indicating the snakes around them, and with that last statement he went to go help Severus.

When he approached Severus, the older man turned his head as if he knew Harry was there before he saw him. He gave the younger man a smile and said, "Go see about Remus. He wouldn't let us look at him until everyone else was treated. We are almost out of blood replenisher and healing potions so if you could call one of the elves and tell them to go to the pharmaceutical company and get some that would help."

When Harry looked around to find Remus, he was laying in the bed with his arms around a child. Harry approached them and spoke to the man. "Remus, do you need anything? Where are you hurt?"

"The others, Harry, see to them first." Remus replied in a weak controlled voice that spoke of great pain.

"All the others are being taken care of, you are next. Where does it hurt?"

"My back."

Harry carefully pulled the sleeping child from his friend and set him on the next bed with another child. He then heleped Remus roll over so Harry could inspect his back.

What he saw there was nothing he had ever seen before. The skin was split open in huge slashes and in some places you could see the bone. Blood was oozing out all over and the bed was soaked in it. Harry called for an elf and when it popped in he demanded. "I need at least two blood replenishers. You will have to go to the company for them and bring in enough to refill the stocks here. We also need healing potions. The supply here is completely depleted. I need some healing salve to use while you get the other medicines from the factory. Hurry!"

The elf popped across the room for the healing salve and handed it to Harry, then popped again out of the room to the pharmaceutical company to get the needed potions.

"Remus, I need to take off what is left of your shirt and robes so I can treat your back." Remus nodded at what Harry was saying, barely moving as the pain was so bad. Harry carefully pealed some of the clothing from the wound using a small cutting hex. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"Fenrir and his pack attacked us. We were meeting at the secured place I use for the werewolves that want the cure. Snape and Malfoy used the portkey I gave Snape at that particular time to speak with me about coming to see your Severus. I was told to do that."

Harry knew this and it was planned so he didn't question Remus, but let him continue. As he waited for Remus to catch his breath, he was gently applying the salve to the slashes on his back.

"Fenrir told me he knew I was cured and wanted to make sure I didn't get away from him a second time. His other pack members were attacking the others and I grabbed the little one before he was slashed or bitten."

"Do you think Snape or Malfoy had anything to do with this?"

"No, they seemed to be just as surprised as the rest of us." Remus was beginning to relax as the salve started to heal the cuts and his voice was getting drowsy.

Just at that time the elf appeared at Harry's side with the required potions. Harry took two blood replenishers and one healing draft and spoke to Remus again.

"Remus, don't go to sleep yet, I need you to take these potions." He gently helped the man to sit up a little and gave him the potions. Then he let him lie back down on his stomach and go to sleep.

It was about two hours after the alarms started blaring before they had everyone fixed up and most of the injured were sleeping from the potions they had consumed. Now Harry and Severus need to go take care of two Death Eaters that were still sitting in the corner not moving in fear of some snakes on the floor.

"Hello Gentlemen, you will relinquish your wands to me, now." Severus said in his most stern voice. It was hard to address his counterpart that way, but he knew he needed their wands to be able to have any kind of discussion with them. He couldn't trust them yet.

"And why should we do that?" Malfoy tried to be intimidating back, but it didn't work on the older man. He had seen too much of Malfoy's posturing before and was immune to it.

"I think we can both agree that you are not in a position to bargain or argue. You wands, now. I will return them after we have conversed." Severus knew that they would be interested in what he had to say.

"Who are you?" Malfoy wanted to know. This man looked too much like an older version of the younger one sitting beside him.

"My name is Severs Prince. That is all you need to know for now. Your wands please."

Malfoy pulled a wand from his inside pocket in his robes and handed it to Severus standing before him. Snape did the same and they both waited. They still were surrounded by the snakes.

"And now you can hand me your cane Malfoy and Snape, you can take the other wand out of your boot."

Knowing that there was nothing else they could do, they both handed their backup wands to the older man, wondering how he knew about the second wands. Only the Death Eaters knew that they all had second wands.

Severus then bent down and hissed something at Fifth Born and picked him up to place him around his neck, while Harry did the same with First Born. The two Death Eaters in front of them grew pale as they realized both these two and the woman could all speak parsletongue. They thought only the Dark Lord could do that.

"Doc!" Severus called from where he was standing, "We am going into the small war room area on this floor. If you need us, or Remus wakes up you can send an elf to come get us." He then turned to Regulus and said, "Reg, you should probably come too." He then moved his attention to Becca. "We will probably be a few hours. You look tired and should head on to bed. We will be alright here."

As much as Becca hated the coddling, she knew he was right and was only looking out for her health and that of the baby. She nodded her head and bid good night to the healers in the room before leaving for the lower levels.

There was a small suite of rooms on the first level, just as there was on the other levels. Severus made his way past the wards in the reception room to the door leading into the next area. Pressing his palm to the plate, he stated his name, Severs Masterson Prince, and waited for the door to slide open to the next area.

Snape and Malfoy followed taking in every detail with an awestruck demeanor, trying not to let their feelings show in their face. They stayed silent even though they both had many questions they wanted answered.

When the five men reached what Severs Prince called the 'little war room', he used the mini floo to talk to Security. "Security!" Severus called through the mini floo, "I need you to go to reception level one and find out if anyone has a tracking spell or something that could have been traced. They were attacked at the secure location point we have been using and we need to find out how the attackers found them."

"Yes, Master Prince. We will take care of that immediately." Said the answering elf. Severus had called through the floo because the elves were under strict instructions not to leave their post unless verbally commanded to. You could not 'call' them out of the room.

"Now, gentlemen." Severus directed his attention to the two intruders. "I am sure you would like to freshen up before we have tea. Come this way." Severus led them to two different bedrooms adjoining the room they were in. Each room had its own bathroom and sitting/bed area but nothing elaborate. "You have ten minutes before tea arrives."

With Snape and Malfoy in their separate rooms, Severus went to Regulus and Harry and asked them if there was anything specific they thought should be discussed with their two intruders.

Regulus thought they could be trusted with the knowledge that the dark mark could be removed and Harry pretty much stayed out of the conversation, realizing that he didn't know them at all and the other two did.

First Born hissed at Harry and he looked up to see the two men coming back into the room. Tea came just as the men entered the sitting area they were in.

Tea was placed on a low coffee table that was raised to be the height of a regular dinner table. Chairs were placed around the table and the five men sad down to tea. The two intruders were hesitant to drink or eat anything, but watched carefully and noticed that they were served from the same teapot and plates of scones and sandwiches that the others were eating from.

"Gentlemen, I would like to know how you came to be here." Severus didn't see any reason for small talk, he wanted some answers.

Snape was the one who answered. "Lupin gave us a portkey when the group was attacked by Fenrir and his pack. We didn't know anything about the attack. It was not told to us and we were just as surprised as everyone else. Lupin had given me a portkey to get to what he called a secure location, to talk to me about a potions apprenticeship. I knew it was somehow connected with Prince Publishing and ask Lucius to come along." He didn't see any point trying to lie; he knew they would find out anyway. Remus would tell them the same thing when he was awake.

"How do I know you didn't bring those murderers into an area we have promised others would be safe?"

Harry spoke up then, "Actually Sev, Remus told me they were just as surprised as he was and he did give them the emergency portkey to get here." He didn't want to interrupt the older man, but he knew the information would have to be known.

"He also said, Fenrir told him he knew about his being cured and he would not get away from him a second time." Harry looked at the younger version of his lover. "Did you know we developed a werewolf cure and did you tell Voldemort?" He watched Snape and Malfoy wince and hiss as if in pain.

"Please don't say that name." Malfoy said.

"Alright, did you know we developed a werewolf cure and did you tell 'What's-His-Name'?" Harry smirked.

All four men sitting there raised their eyebrows and astonishment. "What's-His-Name?" Severus repeated.

"Yeah, I refuse to call him 'You-Know-Who'. It just sounds stupid. So I gave him a new title. 'What's-His-Name."

"You should not be so disrespectful of Him. It will only get you in trouble." Lucius said tersely at him.

"Tom Riddle has been making my life one big mess of trouble since I was born, I don't see the point in giving him respect now." Harry volleyed back to the aristocrat. "It's you two that have trouble now. You follow him blindly like sheep to a slaughter."

"What do you mean 'sheep to a slaughter'?"

"You will follow him to your death, Mr. Malfoy. You and your family unless you take heed of what we have to say."


	42. You Haven’t Been Trained

Posted: 3 November 2009

Chapter 42: You Haven't Been Trained

"Let me repeat one more time. Did you know we developed a werewolf's cure?" Harry asked again

"I did." Snape stated. "Remus told me about it."

"Did you tell, Vol… er Mr. Whatever?" Severus smirked at his young lover. He certainly had a way with the titles.

"Our report to the Dark Lord is not due until the first of the year. We have not seen him in the last couple of days." Lucius said.

"Did you know about the attack on these people when you portkeyed in?"

"No." Lucius said

Harry looked at Severus and then at Regulus. They all three were thinking the same thing. Dumbledore."Then it was the other one." Harry murmured quietly, but not quietly enough not to be heard by the two visitors.

"I don't understand." Lucius said quietly. He had finally relaxed a little as it didn't appear these people were going to start torturing them any time soon or treat them as prisoners. "Can you tell us where we are?"

"How are your occlumency skills?" Severus asked.

"Fair." Lucius said.

"Not good enough. You haven't been trained enough. This I will tell you… You are at the Prince Stronghold Manor. You, Snape, may study with us at our pharmaceutical division. We will help you get your Potions Mastery and you may decide what you want to do after that. Malfoy, we have a business proposition for you. You either may accept, or reject the offers and we will portkey you to the Leaky Cauldron. You may make your way home from there. Are you ready to listen or do you want to leave now?"

"You are not going to hold us prisoner?" Snape asked.

Severus snorted and looked at the men. "You mean like your Master would? Hardly, we have enough to do without trying to keep an eye on you two. You will leave here with some new information, but not anything that will be detrimental to our survival. Do you understand?"

The men nodded and Severus continued. "Everything in the book is true. Power is being leached from the dark mark on every one of the followers; especially the inner circle."

"That can't be." Malfoy denied. "It is to call us together, not drain us."

"I suggest you check it out for yourself. I know you don't realize it, but it is the truth." Severus said.

Lucius raised his eyebrows and asked him, "How would you know about that?"

"Regulus, do you want to take it from here?"

"Lord Malfoy, please look at me." Regulus demanded of him. Snape and Malfoy both turned their heads at the same time. Regulus took off his outer robes and rolled up his sleeves. When they saw that he dark mark was gone, both of them were dumbstruck at the sight.

"How?" Lucius started to say but Snape at the same time interjected.

"We saw you marked! That can't be, it must be a glamour."

"It is no glamour. It is real. I have been here for several weeks now." Regulus grinned at them.

"How was it removed?" Malfoy asked.

When Regulus started to reply, Severus interrupted and said, "We can't tell you that."

"Well, what **can **you tell us?"

"Let me ask this first. Don't you work with Brittan's floo system? I seem to recall the ministry contracts out the floo services with Malfoy Industries."

Malfoy looked puzzled but nodded in assent. He did have the contracts to maintain the floo system for the ministry. "What does that have to do with this?"

"Nothing as far as the Dark Lord is concerned, but our business proposition does." Severus paused to look the man in the eye. "Did you see me use the small floo to call security when we came in?"

Lucius again nodded his blonde aristocratic head in assent. He was still not sure where this line of questions was going.

"We call that a mini floo and want to offer them to the public from our construction division. If all goes as planned, the activity on the floo system is going to double."

"Double? It can't handle that kind of volume! Why would it double?"

"We believe that when people find out how easy it is to use, they will spend more time on the floo. That means more floo powder and more sales for your company as well as ours. Are you interested?"

Lucius Malfoy is no fool, of course he was interested. As Harry, Severus and Malfoy continued to talk contracts and floo call volume, Snape and Regulus were speaking quietly in another section of the room.

"Reg, how did they take the mark off? How did they know where to find you?" Snape asked, trying to get more information from him.

"I can't tell you that, I had to take a wizard's oath before I was given certain information. I can tell you that there are certain things the Dark Lord has done to make him immortal, and these things have dehumanized him." He couldn't tell him about the horcruxes because if he knew and the Dark Lord found out, it could create a whole new set of problems and they didn't need any more of those.

"Isn't there anything else you can tell me? I too would like to be free." Snape said.

Regulus, being a Slytherin, knew this could be true or just a ploy to get more information, so he said, "Not right now. Perhaps later I can get the all clear to speak with you further on this subject." Snape nodded, knowing the ploy for what it was. Regulus was no longer a Death Eater and did not have any loyalties to anyone connected with the Dark Lord. So the topic of conversation was changed to mundane things while the others were involved in business contracts.

Three hours later had Regulus sleeping on the sofa and Snape reading a book he pulled off the shelf. He had been impressed with some of the tomes displayed on one wall of the room.

Lucius Malfoy stood up and told the men that he would need to leave. Severus and Harry told them they were more than welcome to stay the night and that clothes were provided in the rooms they had used earlier. They still had some details to hammer out and they could do it in the morning.

Both Death Eaters looked at each other and immediately decided to stay. They could possibly get more information on this place and would need it for their master. As of yet, they didn't have much for their report that was due on the first and the more information they gathered the better.

Severus' only admonishment to the two men was to not leave this section as it would sound off the alarms again. They were told to call the elves for anything they might need and that they would meet for breakfast at eight in the morning.

Severus called Fifth Born as Harry called First Born to them before they left out the door.

The three men, Harry, Severus and Regulus proceeded to the receiving room to see how the others were doing. They found one healer there keeping watch over the twenty-two sleeping men, women and children. Thanks to everyone's hard work, no one was lost. The healer said they had found out from some of the less injured ones that Remus was the last one out so no one who had been attacked had suffered death. Harry and Severus sighed a breath of relief, they had promised to keep these people safe as much as possible. Tomorrow there would be an investigation into how this happened, and to keep it from happening again.

Harry and Severus didn't go to their rooms to sleep; instead they went to the rooms they used in the war room. They asked an elf to come wake them in twenty minutes so they could meet with their two intruders the next morning.

"Sev, did you tell them anything about the time displacement room they were in?" Harry asked his partner.

"No. I think we should just let them go home and wonder if it is all a dream. Right now the only thing the wizarding world knows about is time turners. They cannot be used for this kind of magic. Those two will end up thinking they dreamed the whole thing when they return to their homes three hours after they left." Severus smirked. "It will keep them off guard."

"Wicked!" was the only thing Harry could think to say as he smiled. He love the way his partner thought sometimes.

They both got ready for bed and fell asleep in each others arms.

HPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHP

The next day as they met the two men in the same room on the first level, they continued their discussions way into late morning. Snape was told of rare ingredients he would have access to and they were both told they needed to set aside time for training if they wanted to know more about their business. At least two weeks in the next coming month. They both said they would have to think it over for a few days. Of course, this was code for 'we have to check with the Dark Lord first because we don't want to be tortured as traitors or deserters'. Then they were given the portkeys to the Leaky Cauldron and left the building from the first level receiving area.

In the same room, the other occupants were still asleep. Remus was among the few that were just waking.

"Remus? How are you feeling?" Harry said quietly. Remus was the only one he had treated and he wanted to know if everything was alright.

"I think I will live Harry, thank you for patching me up." Remus weakly smiled at the young man and tried to move around to sit up.

"Don't move too much, Remy. You don't want to tear open any of the healing gashes. They were really bad when I looked at them last night."

"Last night? Harry it still is last night I think. How long have I been asleep?"

"Oh, sorry. I guess it's just been a long day for me. Do you feel like talking or do you want to sleep? We had a few questions to ask." Harry forgot that he had been in the time displacement room and it was not even an hour later than when they left.

"I can answer a few questions, but first; where is the little one I had with me when I came here? Is he alright, was he hurt? I tried to take the brunt of the swipes from the claws of Fenrir." Remus was starting to babble but he was worried about the small boy.

"He's fine Remus; he didn't even have a scratch on him. He is sleeping in another bed with another child whose parents were badly hurt."

"Did we get everyone here in time? The elves helped get the portkeys to everyone in the area. I don't know how they found us." Severus, who had been in another part of the room, heard the last of what was said.

"It seems that the headmaster placed a tracking charm on you. Harry and I believe he was responsible for this attack. We have spoken to Snape and Malfoy and don't believe they were involved and they said Voldemort didn't know about the cure or their portkey so he wouldn't have known to have them traced. Security found traces of magic attached to your uniform."

"But why?" Remus clearly could not comprehend such a thing. "What would the headmaster get out of this? I don't understand."

"I would assume that in tipping Fenrir off, he hoped to find out how to find us and Fenrir hoped to incur Voldemort's favor by attacking to find out how to find us. It seems that whoever it was, wanted to find us."

They spoke to Remus for a few more minutes, he confirmed that the werewolves in the room were not been given the cure before the attack. As Remus started to fall asleep again they spoke with the healer to correct the problem and left the room for their own back on the third level down.

HPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHP

The following day, Sev, Harry, Becca and Gorbink were sitting at the breakfast table all talking about the previous day's events as they were eating. Gorbink wanted to report that Lady Potter had claimed her vault the day before and received the book that contained the spell that was used on Harry to protect and empower him.

A house elf named Sentry Dobby came into the dining room just as they were finishing and the table was cleared.

"Harry Potter, sir. It is such a pleasure to be seeing you sir. Sentry Dobby has brought your morning mail from the contractor's office sir. How is Harry Potter sir? I have not been seeing you for a long time."

"Hey, Dobby, it's nice to see you too. What have you been doing?" Harry replied. The elf was still a little hyper, but for the most part greatly subdued and more eloquent than before.

"Dobby is now Sentry Dobby to help protect Harry Potter sir. Sentry Dobby brings you mail after checking it for hexes, curses and portkeys and anything else that might hurt Mr. Harry Potter sir." Dobby's big round eyes were alert, but to Harry he looked a little older than before, if one could tell the age of an elf.

"That's great Sentry Dobby; let's see what you have brought us today." Harry took the mail and handed it to Sev to look at as he turned back to the little elf that was so fond of him. But Sentry Dobby was not looking at Harry Potter anymore, he was looking at the corner of the room and his whole demeanor was standing at attention as if ready for attack. Harry followed with his eyes to where the elf was staring, only to see First Born and Second Born slithering around the room.

"_Hey guys, where did you come from? I thought you were going to the second level to swim in the pool. I think you are scaring Dobby a little so I am going to come pick you up to show my friend you don't mean any harm. Is that agreeable with you?_" Harry hissed at the snakes then turned back to Dobby.

"Dobby, these snakes are our protectors too, so you have the same job they do, only they live here and make sure nothing is getting into the building. You don't have to be afraid of them, they won't hurt you." Harry assured the tiny creature that was standing there shaking as if afraid the snake was going to eat him.

"Sentry Dobby not afraid, Mister Harry Potter sir, Sentry Dobby just doesn't want to kill them."

Harry moved to the corner and picked up Second Born as Dobby was answering him. Harry let Second Born wrap around his shoulders and noticed he was a little cold so he spoke to the snake again.

"_Hey there little one, you seem a little cold, do you need a warming charm? You could sit in front of the fireplace if you prefer_." Harry hissed at the snake then it answered back.

"_A warming charm would be nice, Master_." So Harry did a warming charm and looked for First Born to direct one his way too. He found him slithering under the table trying to get a better look at Dobby and Harry paused to wonder if Dobby was aware of the snake coming closer.

He decided to dismiss the elf before something happened that would destroy the room or hurt someone. "Dobby, thank you for bringing the mail and I will see you again soon but we have a meeting that is about to start. Now that I know you are around, I will see you more often."

"Very well, Mister Harry Potter sir." With a bow the elf popped out of the room without being any wiser about the snake under the table.

"_Alright First Born, you may come from under the table now_." Harry said in the sibilant language he used automatically when addressing the snakes. He watched as First Born came from under the table and started to climb up the leg of his master.

"_Master, that elf is different than the others_." First Born said to Harry.

"_How is he different, First Born_?"

"_His heritage is not all house elf; he is mixed with something else, another kind of elf." _First Born informed his master. It didn't surprise Harry in the least; Dobby was always a little different with wanting to be free and not needing to be bonded to a master to keep his power levels up.

"_Thank you for telling me that First Born. Is he safe to be around or did you sense something else?_"

"_Oh yes, master, he is most devoted to you and is completely trustworthy_."

"_Thank you First Born_."

Harry, Sev and Becca all gathered with Gorbink to talk about the Weasleys. They had just received the signed contracts in the mail.

"I think we need to talk to them again, perhaps about building a small guest house next to the big house. It would give us a place for pictures and entertaining the Daily Prophet and other reporters. We could perhaps portkey Molly and the children here for a meeting. It would give me a chance to speak with her about the cookbook also." Becca suggested. She really wanted to keep an eye on those people and this seemed the best way possible. "If there were tracking charms, they will not follow through here but will get to the general area so we need a sentry that is specialized to check for that." Becca thought for a minute then smiled, "I think I know just the right elf for the job."

"You're not talking about Dobby are you? He is so hyper and he has always been a house elf, not a security guard. What if he doesn't know the right spells?" Harry questioned her.

"He knows the spells, he has been here ten years already studying and learning just the way things have to be done. All the elves have been here longer than us. They needed to be trained and educated so they could be placed where they could do their best."

"All the elves? How did you manage that?"

"I just sent them to different times; they needed to be better trained than most coming from Hogwarts. We needed them to be able to work in the other areas of the business. They did very well and most of them are very grateful for it. Some of them can even teach you a thing or two."

"I imagine most of them could teach me a thing or two." Harry answered dryly. "I have to start training soon too, don't I? I was enjoying my vacation. If it were still summer, I would have a few more weeks before starting next term."

"Actually, Harry, you are starting back to your studies in a few days. That's one of the things we are going to discuss this afternoon. I have the founders' portraits in the training room and Gorbink is going to start you on warding, runes and weapons training. I also have a martial arts instructor coming to stay for a few weeks to teach you defense. He is from China and a good friend of my grandfather's in the future. He is also a wizard but they have a different kind of defense magic he can teach you. Sev, you may want to join them for that. He is really very good."

"How did you get him to come if he doesn't know us yet?" Harry wanted to know.

"I gave him a letter he wrote to himself from my timeline." Becca smirked at this. The look on Harry's face was priceless.

"You really put a lot of thought into this didn't you?"

"**What would you do? **If a child was prophesied to being back the true old ways to the magical world and change it for the better? A child that the evil of the world was willing to make into a sacrificial lamb and try to destroy?"

"I guess… I would go back in time with the information he needed, build my own army while circumventing the evil after him, build him an underground fortress and raise him in the knowledge he needs." Harry sighed, "I just regret not being able to do what needed to be done in my timeline so this wouldn't be necessary. Sometimes I feel like such a failure."

"Harry, that's not true, you are not a failure." Becca assured him.

"Harry, you need to stop thinking that way, you could not have known all of this." Severus tried to assure him too. "Hell, I didn't know any of this and am much older than you and a spy also."

"Yeah, well, why did we have to do this then? Why did I have to displace you into another timeline just to get it right, Sev? I took you from where you belong and pulled you into this timeline after you have already been through this part of the war. Now you have to relive it." Harry had been thinking about this for a while now and it really hit home when he saw the injuries the werewolves suffered, especially the children.

Becca could see that Harry was very passionate about this and that he was feeling very badly for Sev and her. She needed to get the message across to him, it was not his fault. Her own version of Harry from her own time was the same, trying to take on the world's problems and she knew just what to do.

She called her house elf and spoke quietly to her. So quietly that no one heard what was said. Harry was not paying attention and Sev was still trying to comfort him and let him know he was alright with coming back in time to help solve the problems for infant Harry.

Suddenly Becca, who had enough of the pity party, shouted. "Harry!" She slapped a test in front of him and gave him a quill. "If it was all YOUR FAULT, then you can take this test with no problems."

Harry looked at the test and said, "This is an Ancient Runes test. I can't take this; I don't know anything about them. Why would you give me this?"

"You have been given the gift of Runes, have you not? You have been born with the gift of magic, have you not? You can take the test." Becca sternly told him in a slightly raised voice.

"I can't take this test. I don't know anything about it."

"And why don't you know anything about it? Harry, WHY DON'T YOU KNOW?"

"Because I have never taken a class in this and I haven't been trained in this. I don't have any knowledge about this." Harry was getting frustrated at Becca; he couldn't believe she would do this to him. Trying to make him take a test he didn't have any understanding of.

"Do you hear yourself Harry, is it your fault you can't take the test?" Becca seemed to be making some point and Sev was just sitting there with his arms crossed and he seemed to understand something the younger man did not.

"I guess it could be my fault I didn't take this class in third year." Harry's self recrimination was full force now.

"IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT!" Becca shouted at him again. "Look Harry, you can't take the test because you haven't been trained. You didn't succeed in your time line because you HAVEN'T BEEN TRAINED! How can you be expected to do things if you HAVEN'T BEEN TRAINED?" Becca's hormones which seemed to be in overdrive started to calm down a bit.

"It is not your fault we are here. It is Dumbledore's and Voldemort's. They didn't let you get trained. You should have been in the wizarding world from birth, you should not have been taken out of it but even then, serving the Dursleys as their resident house elf did not train you for what was to come. The wrong people were taking care of you and every time someone tried to change it, the wrong people prevented it because they were given too much power. Even in the muggle world, you should have been taking martial arts and learning meditation techniques. You could have learned music to increase your magic flow and to build the discipline inside of you."

Becca finally calmed down as she saw the dawning look on Harry's face. "I never thought about it that way. I guess there was plenty my Aunt and Uncle could have done for me if they were not so afraid of magic."

"Harry, your Aunt and Uncle were idiots and from what I know of the people next door, they are not any better in this time. You are going to be trained and when baby Harry comes he will be trained also; like you should have been in the first place. You really need to blame this one on Dumbledore. He was the one who put you with those awful people and made sure you were secreted away from your heritage. So now we train you and help you catch up to what you should have known all along."

Sev looked at the young woman in front of him and marveled that she was able to put the situation into words Harry could understand. He had been trying to get the younger man to understand for months. He hoped his lover received the message, but he felt that they would probably need to have a similar discussion again in the future until it eventually sunk in.


	43. Meeting Old and New Friends

Posted: 06 November 2009

Chapter 43: Meeting Old and New Friends

It was Saturday December 30, 1979 and Harry was waiting for the others to arrive so they could get started on lunch. He was looking forward to seeing Remus again and Regulus was always fun to have around. After the last few weeks of his life completely turned upside down, what he really wanted was to go on a vacation and relax. Perhaps they could go somewhere for New Years, just a short trip to get out of this place. Not that this place wasn't nice, and big enough for ten families. He just wanted to see something different. He remembered about what happened at Diagon Alley and was thinking they could do something muggle. It should be safer and they would attract less attention. For now, he had to focus his attention on the gathering at hand.

About a half hour before everyone was to arrive, Harry, Becca and Sev got together to discuss what they would be able to tell every one and what they wanted to do. It was still a rule that they could not save Lily and James, but it was getting harder and harder to keep this one promise. Becca had been adamant about it but Harry wondered how much of the past had already changed with their arrival to upset the balance of time. He had to admit to himself that he didn't know anything about time travel other than the time turner incident and that was only a few hours. He did know that he was not supposed to be seen. This was different, Becca had said, because they were using the charm to correct history.

In her original plan, they were to come back on October 31, 1981 when the Potters were attacked, but because of Evan, they had changed the plan and now parts of the original plan were moving faster allowing them to change other things like saving Regulus and getting the werewolf's cure to Remus much earlier than before.

When the others started to arrive, they had to conclude their small meeting to start lunch and speak with them.

As everyone else came in, Harry noticed it was Remus (who was looking much better), Regulus, Gorbink, Griphook, Shashi, and three of the healers he had met before; Doc, Kyia and Acubi. Harry assumed that the healers knew everything about why they were here since Becca had told him they came from her time line.

As they sat at the table and munched on sandwiches and juice and tea with scones and biscuits they agreed to keep the conversation light and about neutral things until everyone was finished eating.

As soon as the table was cleared, Severus started the meeting. He first thanked everyone for coming and then got down to business.

"Today we need to discuss Harry's education. He has completed what would be considered his fifth year at school and it is now time to prepare him for his NEWT's. Also, if I am not mistaken, Regulus needs to take his NEWT's." Severus paused in his speech in case anyone wanted to ask questions. Reg nodded but said nothing.

Remus took advantage of the pause to ask, "So you want us to tutor Harry for his NEWT's? I know there are several subjects I could help him with, but wouldn't a Master be better?"

"Actually, I would like you and Regulus," Severus waved a hand in Reg's direction as he was speaking, "to consider training with Harry and getting your Masters certification in any subjects that you feel you would want to teach. We will be developing several new textbooks for the publishing company and the better degreed you are the better the books sell."

This was the story they had come up with so they wouldn't have to explain about coming from the future and about Hogwarts and Dumbledore. It was difficult enough with the amount of people that already knew and they weren't ready for Remus to know too much about the future as he may want to tell his friends.

"But that will take at least two years. Why not hire someone else that already has a Masters to help you with the books." This time it was Regulus that spoke, they had never told him about the time displacement room. The previous night he just went to sleep and didn't think about the time.

"The fewer people that know about us and work for us, the safer we stay. It won't take two years, only about two months at the most. We have a way to sort of accelerate the learning process. When you have completed your training, you will have to take the tests with the Ministry Educational Department as if you home studied. The test is a little harder and longer for home study students, but you will be prepared for it."

Doc spoke up and asked, "What do you want from us and how soon? We have schedules at the center that need to be adhered to. We have patients that are starting to come in for treatment and we feel that soon we can accommodate the magical community in the efforts of magical core regeneration."

"I have seen the reports," Severus answered him; "they are very impressive." The Professor looked at the other healers sitting at the table. "All I ask is that you teach us some of your techniques. Maybe take one day a week to help in the training rooms. You know how we will be accelerating the teaching so you can adjust your schedules accordingly. However you can help is fine with us. We basically wanted you to know that this is starting on the first Monday of the New Year and we will be ready for you after a week from there."

"Is there anything else you need from us today? We have a young wizard coming in this afternoon that his parents say is a squib. We are hoping to explain how we can help him and hope to educate them about squibs and muggleborns. I hope you get some more books published soon. It is easier to hand them a book to read, rather than relaying all that information in person."

"Wait" Remus butted in, "you mean there are more books than the one you distributed for Christmas? I have only seen a few children's books and the one about You-know-who."

"You mean Mr. Whos-its-whats-it." Harry said.

Severus smirked at Harry and every one else just looked at him as if not understanding what he said. "I forgot you have been out in the field. There are a whole series of books and several of them go into more details about squib and muggleborns. They have made a fascinating impact on the wizarding community. I expect some of the Death Eaters will have quite a few surprises as the upcoming year unfolds." Severus informed not just Remus but everyone around the table.

"Gorbink and Griphook, we will need schedules on when we can get training from you on Business Management, Finances, Weapons Making, Blood Wards and Language. You also know how we can accelerate the training; you just need to let me know if we need to come to you or if you want to come here. Please take your time and let us know at your convenience."

Griphook had never seen such cooperation between the several different species sitting at the table. He actually could not ever remember hearing about such a meeting before; where dark elves and light elves and goblins and wizards were all in the same room pleasantly conversing with the same respect for one another. He looked at Gorbink to see if the older goblin would show any of the surprise that Griphook felt, but the older goblin was conversing with these people as if this was a daily occurrence and would find it strange if everyone weren't courteous to one another.

Severus was looking at the younger goblin that was looking around the room. He imagined the younger being was quite untrusting of the reactions from everyone. Wizards did not treat goblins well and he couldn't blame the little being for his disbelief. Hopefully, before the training, Gorbink could convince him that this was essentially a new order of the magical community and this is why the cross training was so important. He gave a brief pause in his musings to remember what Becca had said about his children doing great things for the magical world and wanting to train the younger Harry to be the 'self confident and knowledgeable wizard he was born to be'.

"Who is going to train us in the other subjects?" Remus wanted to know. "I would love to study Charms, Transfiguration and maybe DADA. Those were my best subjects at Hogwarts and where I did the best in my NEWT's."

"We have those teachers already available and waiting." Severus replied with a smirk on his face. "In fact why don't we go to the training rooms right now?" He turned to the healers and the goblins, "You may join us if you wish or if you have more pressing matters, we have concluded our meeting. I appreciate your coming to see the students and thank you all for giving up your valuable time to help us."

The goblins took their leave, wished everyone a good day and left for Gringotts. They had other duties to see to and wanted to work on a training schedule immediately. The healers did the same as they had patients to see to and were looking forward to collaborating on their training schedules as well. Severus was then left with Remus, Regulus, Harry and Becca. The young woman declined as well saying she had other things to do. Actually they had spoken about this earlier and nobody knew what spending time in that room would do to the delivery date of Evan. They had come back in time at precisely to the day for the normal gestation period of the fetus to be born on July thirty-first, and didn't want to risk changing that. There were already risks in early or late delivery but they wanted to keep things as accurate as possible.

So Severus, Remus and Harry went to view the training rooms on the middle floor of the manor. Remus had never been given a tour and Regulus, although he had seen more than Remus, had yet to see all of it. As they made their way to the elevator and to the second level they were discussing all the subjects that would be available to them and what they would need to do first.

Finally, they passed the pool and proceeded to the part of the facility that was under number three Privet Drive and the street itself. Severus turned to the three younger men and said. "Through this door gentlemen is a time displacement area. The training you will receive here is going to be more intense than you would receive anywhere else. The hour that you would spend outside this door is the equivalent of twenty four hours inside."

Severus opened the door as he noticed the confused looks on the faces of Remus and Regulus. They didn't understand how that was possible. Inside the door, there was first a little reception area or common room with three leather couches with side tables in deep mahogany and a matching book shelf with many old tomes on its shelves. There was a perch in the corner for Fawkes. There was also a large fireplace with a mini floo at its side and they noticed six empty frames for portraits.

There were three doors off to the side to get into the remainder of the areas. The first door was the training room. It was basically a large empty space with the acromantula building substance surrounding the room. The floor, walls and ceiling were all made from the same material. The room must have been about twenty meters long and about fifteen meters wide and looked to be completely empty except for a few battle armaments on the walls. Again there were six frames for portraits and again they were empty.

"This is obviously where you will study spells and DADA. This room is completely magic proof. If a spell hits a wall, floor or ceiling it will not break or harm it in any way. Also, any spell or magic used in this entire facility is undetectable by the Ministry. They will not know magic is being used here. This is also the room for physical training and where you will learn martial arts. I will be joining you for those classes."

After a few more minutes of gawking at the room, they went back through to the common room and then through the second door.

"Here are the classrooms you will be using." Here they actually went down a hall and peered into six rooms outfitted with eight desks and chairs and with bookshelves that were already packed with books and reference materials. The same six empty portrait frames were hanging on one wall in front of the desks in each classroom. They were all surprised to see that in one room each desk had its own laptop computer. Remus and Regulus looked at the small slim box on the desk and wondered at it.

"What is this?" Regulus finally got the courage to ask. He didn't want to seem unknowledgeable but he had never seen one before.

"Muggle technology, **future** muggle technology." Harry answered with a smirk. "We get to use computers! Wicked!"

"I thought muggle technology couldn't be used in a magical facility?" Remus queried.

"This is not a magical facility run on magic. It is more a muggle facility run on computers and a little magic. Yes we do use magic here but we do not depend on it to do everything. You will learn more about that during classes." Harry was the one to explain this. He, Severus and Becca had already had long conversations about the subject and he knew he actually understood more of it than Severus.

"Is that how you hide it from the Ministry?" Remus wanted to know.

"Partly, remember the acromantula shells that this facility is made with are impervious to magical destruction. That's one of the reasons we use it. Have you seen the trunks that the building department has started making?"

"Yes, I gave one to the Potters for the baby. It was a demonstration model and James and Sirius took it outside to try and destroy it. They had fun for about half an hour but lost interest when they exhausted their list of spells. It was intact when I left there."

This was an interesting fact that Severus didn't know. Later he would have to think about what the impact of that would do to the future. Then again, it probably wouldn't do anything except give baby Harry a few belongings that were previously destroyed from the blast.

"That is basically the same premise. This facility is made the same way. One of the things that protect us is the acromantula shell and the other is the runes imbedded into the shells. This allows us maximum security."

"Why do you need all this security? I mean, this is pretty extraordinary even for the war. No one has this kind of protection that I know of." Remus asked.

"That is no one knows how to make this kind of protection, but that doesn't mean it is not needed." Severus responded. "Voldemort," Severus began and smirked as the two younger men winced while Harry smiled.

"You mean Mr. Whatchamacallit." Harry said and watched as Severus frowned at him for his interruption.

"has attacked us before. Do you recall the story about three people in Diagon Alley that were attacked by Death Eaters and put up an impenetrable shield? It was a story in the Daily Prophet trying to find out who the three people were."

Both Remus and Regulus knew about this and nodded then waited for Severus to continue. "That was us," was all he said by way of explanation.

Regulus who already knew about the Dark Lord's recruiting tactics just nodded and simply said. "Forcible recruitment."

"That's right." Then changing the subject he continued, "Let's go see the remainder of the facility.

They looked into the other classrooms. Each one outfitted with eight desks, each one with the six empty portrait frames facing the desks and each classroom with one wall of bookshelves filled with books for further study. One classroom was obviously for potions as the cauldrons were already in place and there were potion ingredients as well as books on the shelves. The other classroom looked to be more for Transfiguration and Charms judging by the books and then the next was full of finance and business management books as well as some on weaponry making and warding.

When they left that area and returned to the entrance room they went through the third door; this lead up some stairs and made Harry feel like he was back in Gryffindor tower. The stairs stopped at another common room with yet more bookshelves and comfortable cushioned chairs and a huge fireplace with yet again another mini floo. Once through the common room there was another hallway that led to eight bedroom suites.

Each living suite had a small sitting room, a bedroom and a large bath. They each were in a different color as if representing a different house similar to Hogwarts. One room was royal blue with beige accents, another was gold with red accents, another was green with silver, the others were crimson red with white, purple with silver, brown with beige and the last one was sea foam green with darker green and white accents. In the green and silver room the suite was slightly larger than the others with a king size bed instead of the other queen size beds in the other rooms.

Harry looked at this and turned to Severus, "This must be our room. You had to have Slytherin colors didn't you?"

"Why would you think that? I didn't come in here and decorate. It was already here when I came to look around last week. It is the bigger room however and we would be more comfortable in it."

"As you can see gentlemen, these are your living quarters while you stay here and study. It will be difficult for you to go back and forth from the time displacement area to normal time. This will allow you to feel more like in school and give you the extra time to study so that you can finish faster."

"How long will we be in here?" Remus asked. "I have some appointments with the foreign werewolves that will need to be put off if we stay here too long."

"I didn't know you had contacted them already." Severus said. "You will need to clear your calendar for the next month or two depending on what you are willing to learn. If you think someone else can handle it, you may want to appoint someone to take your place to continue the work without interruption. If they will take an oath, because they will be virtually unsupervised for as long as you are here, but of course you will not need the house elves so they can keep an eye on anyone you wish to assist you." Severus thought about what he said and added. "We can however give you a few hours outside the room by using time turners. We are in possession of several."

"I would now like to introduce you to your teachers. They are waiting in the common room." Severus informed them. He was really going to enjoy this; even Harry didn't know who would be teaching them although he might have his suspicions.

They followed Severus to the common room that was just down the hall, but when they entered they didn't see anyone there. Severus went over to the six empty portrait frames and tapped on each one twice with his wand to get the missing occupants to come forward. They had wanted to let the young men tour the area before revealing themselves. The six frames soon filled with people and the three men looked in shock as they started to recognize who was there.

"Oh, Merlin." Regulus said as he looked at some of the occupants of the frames. He didn't know all of them but he knew most.

As the sixth frame filled with a man and a woman, the old man answered. "Hello, my dear boy, what can I do for you?"

HPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHP

In another part of the country…

"Narcissa, dear, please get me today's paper. I seem to have lost a day with all the meetings I have been having." Lucius said at breakfast to his beautiful wife.

"Lucius, darling, that is today's paper. Today is December 30, 1979. There is no other paper." She was puzzled at his actions. First he came back last night apologizing for being gone a whole day when he was away only three hours. Now this. Maybe he wasn't feeling well.

"No, dear, I am sure today is the thirty-first. Severus and I were in meetings all day yesterday and tomorrow we have a report to make." He didn't need to tell her who they had to make a report to.

"Lucius, are you feeling alright? If you do a tempus totalis you will get the date and you can see for yourself." Narcissa was getting worried.

Lucius did the spell and watched as the date and time floated through the air. He then excused himself from the breakfast table to floo call Severus Snape. Maybe he could shed some light on this conundrum. Narcissa watched him leave, with a frown marring the features of her beautiful face.

As Lucius Malfoy threw the floo powder into the flames, he redid the spell and still got the same answer. Today was December thirtieth not the thirty-first. How can that be?

As Malfoy was on his knees in front of the fireplace, he remembered the conversations about the mini floo that would allow him to stand in dignity instead of going to his knees to have a conversation with someone. Those people were right; this had the potential to double the use of the floo network and he would be the first to have one of those things installed as soon as possible.

As Snape's face appeared, Lucius did not bother with small talk. "Are you aware of the fact that today is the thirtieth and not the thirty-first?" Lucius asked. "Do you have any idea how this happened?"

"Stand back, I am coming through." Snape appeared in front of Lucius, and then doused the fire. No one could easedrop that way.

"I don't know Lucius, but I don't think we ought to say anything. We are either having an illusion, a psychotic episode, or these people are so powerful they threw us back in time so we wouldn't be missed. Either way, it doesn't look good for us." Lucius agreed with this assessment.

Lucius looked thoughtful. "The older one had a strong resemblance to you, are you sure you don't know him?"

"I have never seen these people before, but I do agree; there seems to be some sort of family resemblance."

"We will either be frowned upon for delusions or will make those Prince people mad. They command snakes and _basilisks, seven of them, _better than the Dark Lord and they don't seem to think we are a threat. I imagine they have ways to keep tabs on us. I don't want to take the risks." Lucius told Severus in a whispered voice. "There were three, **three**, parslemouths in that room. Who has that kind of power? I don't want to alienate them; they are the only ones I know that could possibly help us."

"Agreed." Severus replied and relit the flames to return back to his home. They didn't need to discuss what help they needed. Neither one would speak of it aloud, but they didn't like bowing and scraping to a mad man. Before he left however he turned back to the aristocratic blonde. "We will have to meet later, before the other meeting so we can put all our facts together." Lucius nodded and Severus went back to his own home.

A/N I want to thank everyone that has reviewed. You guys are really great and I appreciate you letting me know what you like and don't like. Even the criticism is welcome. I originally put this up on ff on 8/9 so my three month anniversary is here. Thank you for all your encouragement.


	44. Meeting the Teachers

Posted: 7 November 2009 CDT

Chapter 44: Meeting the Professors

Thump… Thump… Regulus and Remus were both on the floor as their bodies completely shut down when the old man in the portrait spoke. Harry was in awe, but he knew the kind of resources Becca had and he couldn't say he was surprised. He knew the four founders and Merlin and Morgan LeFay from the Hogwarts ritual room. He didn't, however, know who the man was in the sixth portrait frame.

"Hello, young man, since you seem to know everyone else I will introduce myself. I am Lord Ignotus Peverell." Harry looked at him blankly and stared. He couldn't place the name and he couldn't place the face either.

"I'm sorry sir, am I suppose to know you?" Harry questioned the portrait carefully. He didn't want to offend the man, but he didn't want to pretend he knew him when he that was not the truth either.

"You have never heard of me? Are you not the Potter heir and the holder of the invisibility cloak?" The portrait queried him, not believing the child had never heard of him before.

"If I may, sir," Severus broke into their conversation, "Harry has been with muggles since he was fifteen months old and has not been raised on the stories of wizarding children. His parents died before he could learn of you and he is the last of the line."

"Aye, that would explain it then." The portrait said in a blustering voice and then made a gesture of clearing his throat. "Well, Harry, we will have to educate you even more than I had first thought. You have missed a lot not being raised in the magical world." The portrait looked at him fondly and smiled.

"Please sir," Harry then asked, "can you tell me who you are?"

"Well, yes of course, I am your very many great grand fathers. I am Ignotus Peverell I was around before the name eventually changed to Potter."

"How did you get here?"

"I was brought here from your vault. I am the one who made your invisibility cloak and there is not another one like it in the world." The man said proudly.

"Are you going to help train me so I can survive with evil wizards after me all the time?"

"That and much more, my son, so very much more."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, sir. Thank you for helping me train for my NEWT's." As he said this, Harry placed his arms to his side and bowed at the man in front of him. He had a feeling this man would be important to him and would want to see that he was trained well.

"Not just your NEWT's Harry, we are going to teach you the Master's level in as many subjects as you want. You have the potential for knowledge; you just need to study to retain the knowledge. You will find that you are more able learn since the blocks have been removed." The portrait of Ravenclaw spoke with pride in her voice. "You have the ability to understand knowledge the others will struggle with."

"I hope to do you justice, Lady Ravenclaw. I have only been an average student in the past." Harry was getting worried that these people would expect too much of him and he would disappoint them when he couldn't do as well as they wanted.

Something of what he was feeling must have shown in his face because Lady Ravenclaw then said, "You will do fine Harry. Just do your best." She smiled graciously at him and then turned her head to the other bodies lying on the floor.

It was Morgan LeFay that said "Well, gentlemen, don't just stand there. Wake them up!"

Severus, with an evil grin plastered on his face, took out his wand and started to point it at the first of the two men on the floor. "Whoa, pull back on the power!" Someone shouted from a portrait. It was Merlin, staring down at him from the wall. "You haven't been doing too many spells since you and Harry bonded, have you?"

Severus shook his head in the negative and immediately pulled his wand up so that it was not pointing at any one. "We haven't really needed spells lately; the dissecting of the basilisk had to be done without using magic so it would not interfere with the ingredients collected from it. There was a shield in Diagon Alley that went a little crazy but we thought it was Becca that produced it, or all three of us at one time. Of course, later we found it couldn't have been Becca so we just thought it was the excitement of the moment."

He watched as the five portraits looked at each other for a few seconds at the mention of Becca's name and as if making a decision all turned to face the men in front of them.

Goddric looked at the soulmated pair and shook his head in disbelief. "You two will get your first lesson right now. Severus, point your wand at one of those two on the floor but don't do anything yet." He watched as the older student slowly lowered his wand to point it at Regulus.

"Now close your eyes and focus on the amount of power that is flowing through your body." Severus nodded and focused; his magic was going wild and was pulsing through his body, he nodded to indicate he could see his magic.

"Now, pull back while taking a calming breath and try to tone down some of the magic that is flowing so freely." Severus took several calming breaths and pulled back on his magic and watched as his magic slowed down to a more sedate and acceptable level.

"Now, slowly point the wand in the direction of the two sleeping students and say aguamenti." Severus jerked up his head and lost all concentration as he saw a grinning Gryffindor. "Well you don't want to risk putting too much power into anything else, the water will wake them and all you have to do is dry up the flood that is going to spew forth from that wand of yours. If you try a Renneverate, they will be awake for three days if you don't give them a heart attack first. Didn't anyone tell you, your spells will need a little adjusting with that kind of power?"

Severus thought for a minute and then said, "Doc said something about it, but we haven't had time to put a lot of effort into it yet."

"Well, after this, it will be one of our first priorities. We can't have you eliminating people with a simple stunner."

Severus looked at him with disbelief mixed with shock. "I could do that?"

It was Merlin that spoke up next. "Oh, yes and much more. We have to work on toning down and controlling the power in you and Harry before we can start working with Harry on some of his spells. He could probably become an animagus in a few weeks with that kind of power."

"Ok, let's get these two up so we can go over schedules." Severus pointed his wand at the two men, but keeping in mind what Godric and Merlin said he pointed it at their stomachs instead of their heads. Don't want to drown them either he thought. Looking into his magic, he pulled it in and very softly said "aguamenti". A deluge of water spewed forth from the wand before Severus could pull the spell back and the two men were sputtering as they picked themselves up off the floor.

"Who?" Remus sputtered and looked at Severus with his wand in his hand. "Merlin, Severus, you could have done a simple aguamenti and not tried to drown us!" He pulled out his wand and dried his clothes and the floor which had a puddle of water.

Regulus did the same thing, glowering at Severus as he did so.

"Actually, Merlin had nothing to do with it, it was Godric that told me to, and it _**was**_ a simple aguamenti." Severus smirked at them as he reminded them why they had passed out on the floor to begin with. He thought since Remus was a Gryffindor he should see the humor in it.

As Severus said that, Remus jerked his head in his direction and Severus, with an indication of his head, merely flicked his eyes to the portraits on the wall for Remus to look in that direction.

Remus quickly straightened himself up and grabbed the arm of Regulus to get his attention. He then faced the portraits and bowed before saying, "Please forgive our rudeness; we are much honored to meet you. It just took us by surprise but we have recovered now." Remus was stumbling over the words as he was still in a state of shock to be before the founders and others.

It was Lady Hufflepuff that answered this time. "That's quite all right, young man, this was the reason we decided that we should meet before lessons began. We wanted to get to know each other and didn't want it to be such a shock to your system at one time."

All during this time, Salazar's portrait was conspicuously silent. He stood inside his frame and watched the antics of his counterparts and the men in front of him and wondered what he was doing here. Although he had seen some strong power, it wasn't like the others couldn't handle the situation. Why did he have to come and be with these people?

The truth was these portraits didn't know about the ritual, although they had been told about the blocks and how the group came back in time, they were not told about the gifts that they themselves had given Harry in the other time line. Lady Ravenclaw could see special abilities in other people and could see Harry's gift of knowledge but did not know it came from her in another time. Merlin could see the powerful auras that indicated the soul mated couple but did not know he had blessed them with strength and elemental power. Godric could see the power in their magic but didn't know he had blessed them with the gifts of transfiguration and defense, and it was the same with Helga and Morgan.

Salazar stood in his portrait frame with his arms folded across his chest, hissing under his breath about valuable time wasted uselessly. Harry heard him and went over to his frame.

The young man bowed and spoke for the first time directly to the portrait. "Please sir, if I might be able to speak with you in another room. I would be most appreciative."

Salazar hissed again and about useless wastes of his time and Harry answered but still in English. "I promise it will not be a waste of your time and I will be very brief." Salazar gave a piercing stare at the boy and quirked an eyebrow. Then young man nodded and said, "The second classroom off the second hallway should be sufficient." Upon which the last founder of Hogwarts left his portrait to find refuge in another frame.

"Severus, I am going to go talk to Salazar in another classroom if you don't need me here. You can go over schedules and let me know later. Is that alright?"

"That is fine, Harry." Severus said with a nod of his head. He knew Harry was going to have a hissing conversation with the founder and didn't want the others to know. "I will try to join you if you are not back in half an hour."

Harry left the room and followed the hallways to the first common/reception room that they first enter in this section of the building. Sitting there on the back of the sofa was First Born. "_Hey First Born_." Harry hissed at the snake. He was happy to see his familiar but didn't know how he had gotten in. "_What are you doing here_?"

"_I missed you, master. Is this your training rooms you have been talking about?" _First Born hissed back to his master

"_Yes, these are the training rooms. Would you like to go meet your mother's master? That is where I was going. He is a portrait but will be able to speak to us." _Harry hissed to the snake

"_Yes, master. I would like to, can the others meet him too?" _First Born hissed.

"_Yes, that would be acceptable, but maybe at a later time."_ Harry picked up the snake and let him wrap around his shoulders before taking the second door. He then entered the second classroom but he didn't see Salazar at first. The man in the painting was waiting at the edge of the frame to see what Harry was going to do.

First Born was the first to speak though. He wanted to see his mother's master and tell him what a wonderful mother she was until the bad student killed his father and controlled her. He hissed his doubts to Harry. "_Master, I don't see this human that was my mother's master. What if he doesn't want to meet with The Seven? They will be disappointed_."

"_Don't worry First Born, everything will work out. I am hoping this master will help me with the parsletongue magic that has been lost through time. Severus will want to learn from him also. Although he doesn't speak it as often as I do, he will want to learn it."_ Harry hissed in reply waiting for the Founder of Slytherin to appear.

Salazar upon hearing this conversation quickly left his frame and returned to the common room where the others were. He entered Merlin's portrait and whispered something to him. Severus had seen this and didn't know what was going on but he watched as Merlin's eyes almost popped out of his head and he pulled a book off the shelf of his portrait and flipped through it until he came to a certain page. He and Salazar read the page then Merlin gave the book to the founder and he disappeared out of the frame again. To Severus, this did not bode well. He wondered what Harry had done now.

Merlin then straightened his robes and continued to listen to the others explain about teaching schedules and other mundane topics as Morgan looked at him waiting for him to tell her what was going on. He indicated with a slight shake that it would have to wait for later.

As Salazar entered the classroom, he listened to Harry and his familiar talking as they waited for him to appear. This time Salazar did not hide in the frame but continued on into the painted background so he could speak with Harry.

"Well young man, you are full of surprises. You have a soulmate although you don't look old enough to be bonded. You speak parsletongue and I though the gift had died. You have a great amount of power but do not know how to wield it. Do you want to tell me what is going on? You may also introduce me to what I presume to be your familiar."

Salazar stated all of this in a very commanding manner and Harry was a little hesitant to approach him even though the founder was demanding it.

"Yes, sir." Harry said automatically. Then he asked, "Will it be alright if we speak so First Born can understand us? He understands English but some of the words do not translate well and some of this story he could help with." At the nod of Salazar's head Harry switched to parsletongue to incorporate the snake into their conversation.

"_Well, sir, it really is a long story, but I guess it starts with_ …" So Harry hissed for the next few hours about his life, time travel, the gifts, the snakes, Salazar's basilisk, the headmaster and everything else he could think of. At some point, Severus joined them and interjected his comments but for the most part let Harry do the telling. As time moved on Severus left the room to give the founder and his mate some privacy while discussing being a Gryffindor versus a Slytherin and Harry continued to tell the tale. Merlin had slipped in at one point and stayed for awhile but as the conversation was completely in parsletongue, no one else disturbed them.

At some point an elf came and brought tea. Of course Salazar got his own in his portrait and partook of his own refreshment to join Harry. It seemed a little strange to Harry but he could get used to this. The wizarding world was an amazing place to be and he was glad he didn't have to be anywhere else ever again.

After hours of talking, the young man was getting tired and stood up in front of Salazar. He dropped the sibilant language to take his leave of Lord Slytherin and said. "I have enjoyed our time together and hope that you will consent to teach me so that I may help the wizarding world become a better place instead of what I came from. I would like to see it survive and thrive instead of destroy itself."

"Before you go, Harry, I want to read something to you. This is a book of prophecy that was written by Merlin over one thousand years ago. It may help you to understand what is happening now." The founder opened the book to a certain page and read:

"In a millennium, the evil will fall

A child times two will rise, Master of The Seven

Triumphant he will be to return the ways

Born to the magic that must prevail

Dark and light will once again

Return to origins from whence it came."

"Harry I believe you are the prophesied child and that you have come to bring the wizarding world back together. It will not be easy and you will need all the help you can get, but it can be done." Salazar looked like he was getting excited and Harry didn't want to let him down but he had to interrupt.

"But sir, what about the baby that is to be born, the real Harry Potter of this time, isn't he what the prophesy is talking about?" Harry was confused. How could there be a prophesy in this time about him from another time line.

"I believe it is about you both. At first when we read this hundreds of years ago we thought it was twins. But you are master of The Seven and I feel sure that there may be another seven in this time line as well, but even if there is not, you and the baby Harry will master the snakes with the parsletongue magic. Harry the date on this page is July thirty-first, nine hundred and eighty."

"That's my birth date, I mean the date not the year my year is nineteen hundred and eighty. I need to go talk to my mate. May I come and speak with you again?"

"You may come and speak with me at anytime Harry. It's not as if we sleep." Salazar was very pleasant to speak with and he listened to Harry about everything. He had asked questions, who wouldn't, but he listened and was interested.

"Sir, when I come, the others will want to come too. I mean the rest of The Seven. First Born asked me earlier if they may come and see you. You are the only link to their mother they have now and I think they would like to meet her master."

"Of course they may come. I should tell you, Harry, that this prophecy I read is not the only one in here about you and your group. There are others that refer to a group of seven as the royals and still others about the birth of, what I believe to be, your children."

"Is that how you knew you needed to give me the gifts? I wondered about that, why me?"

"No one knows why fate chooses one person over the other, but I would presume it is because you were the right person at the right time, in the right place. That is how most of us are chosen. Others are chosen and throw their gift away; they choose not to follow a path laid before them. You have chosen the path and have been awarded great honor. I also believe it may have to do with the name. Prophesies are not absolute and subject to interpretation of the seer. I think this may be interrupted as the Princes. As the wizarding world has never had a king or queen or royalty, it would make more sense."

"But sir, I don't really want great honor, I just want people to be able to live freely and not be pushed into this war that is infiltrating our world and destroying it. I just want people to be safe and not suffer the evil that has come about."

"And THAT, Harry is WHY you were chosen," Salazar said with a smirk, "because you don't want it."

"What? I don't understand sir." Harry was completely lost in this conversation with the founder. He was trying to understand but it was beyond him. He raised his hand to his head and rubbed his temple in confusion.

"No, Harry, you wouldn't and that in itself is your answer."

Salazar watched as Harry left the room, thinking about their conversation. How did you tell someone that they were so humble that great power would come to him because he didn't want to rule the world? That fate and, the powers that be, had chosen him because of his humility?


	45. Repeat Performance

Posted: 11 November 2009

Chapter 45: Repeat Performance

Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy were still trying to wrap their minds around the fact that today was December 30, 1979. They knew no time turners had been used and they knew there had been no spells used on them either. Beyond that, they wanted to keep their 'time difference' a secret from the Dark Lord. If the Prince family was as powerful as they thought, maybe they could use this as a way to get out from under the atrocities they had been forced into, all in the name of blood purity.

Snape looked at Lucius with his obsidian stare and said, "We need more information. Have you gotten anything from your business contacts?"

"No, they are still on holidays. Some people actually take time off to enjoy their families." Lucius replied.

"Do you think they are sincere?" Severus wanted his friends opinion completely ignoring the snipe about families.

"Their business plan is well thought out and I would find it hard to believe they were bluffing on that as we have seen it at work. We already know that they have a pharmaceutical company and it could probably handle a few Potion Masters if it already has a werewolf's cure. What I don't understand is why Severs Prince looks so much like you."

"There is a strong family resemblance, but I have never seen him before." answered the potions student. "I know I have a strong resemblance to the Princes so maybe his branch of the family does too. They did say they were from Germany, although I did not detect a German accent. That could just be where he was born and not raised. I do know that Severus is a family name and I have several ancestors with a version of it."

Snape then remembered something else and asked. "They told us we needed training and to set aside a few days for them. Do you think you could obtain a time turner from the Ministry? Maybe we can get a few more answers if we go back and visit them again, before we have to report to the Dark Lord. I wonder how he knew our Occlumency shields were not good enough."

"Do you think we should owl them and ask for another audience? If they see us today or early tomorrow, we could do what we need to do before our meeting with the Dark Lord. Why do you suppose they asked about our Occlumency skills?" Lucius wanted to get Snape's opinion.

"I believe they may have secrets they are willing to share if they can be assured we will not give them to anyone else. I just wonder what they will require of us in return." Snape said as he was concentrating on what they might have that the Princes would want.

"Then you believe another meeting may be beneficial?" Lucius wanted Snape to give an opinion before he gave his.

Snape finally nodded his head and said, "Yes, I believe another meeting would be a calculated risk that could tell us if we can trust these people. It may also give us some insight as to who they really are."

"Let's owl them and see what we can find out." Lucius then pulled out parchment and quill and wrote a note to Severs Prince.

Dear Mr. Prince,

After a lengthy floo call this morning, I have seen the validity of your mini floo idea. I would appreciate an audience with you at your earliest convenience. I wish to bring Severus Snape with me so we may discuss other possible joint ventures.

Lord Lucius Malfoy

Malfoy Industries

The young Lord then sent the letter with an elf to the owlery and waited for a reply.

Back at Prince Stronghold Manor....

Remus and Regulus left the training area. They were in wonderment of the room and the teachers they would be learning from. The very idea of the founders of Hogwarts being able to teach and train them for their Masters Certifications was beyond something they had ever dreamed, but then when adding Merlin, Morgan and Lord Peverell it was mind boggling. They realized this was something bigger than ending the war, it was the beginning of a whole new society. When you put all the pieces together, it was a combining of magical communities of all species to pull their world back together and make it stronger than before. That they were essentially chosen for this was beyond their comprehension. The thing that had them most puzzled was how the room actually worked.

As the other two men had left for their respective jobs to make arrangements to be away from their assigned projects for two months, Harry and Severus were going to their quarters for their interrupted 'repeat performance'. It was interrupted when the werewolves came and the soon to be former Death Eaters. Severus, as he was watching Harry walk in front of him, wanted his promised repeat performance as soon as possible. Merlin, he thought, if he doesn't quit moving his arse like that, I am going to take him right here in the hallway.

Harry, as if knowing what Severus was thinking, gave another little twitch to see if the man was really paying attention. He heard his older lover groan and thought, 'Yes, he most certainly is paying attention'. He gave another little wiggle.

Severus by this time was rock hard and groaning as they were getting into the elevator for the third level down. When Harry had completed the password and the door opened, he was shoved into the small confining space, up against the wall and his mouth was devoured by the voracious attentions of a certain frustrated older man. Harry moaned and opened his mouth to allow access.

As Severus picked Harry up and slammed him against the wall, their cloth covered erections meeting and grinding together, Severus reminded him with a growl, "You owe me a repeat performance. I'm going to collect it. You are not getting away from me again."

"Yes" Harry whimpered as the man attacked his neck, his legs wrapped around Severus' waist.

Severus smiled against Harry's clavicle as his lover started those little mewling sounds he loved so much. The young Gryffindor was putty in his hands but they were startled out of their tight clinch as the elevator came to a halt and they found an elf waiting outside the door.

"Master Prince, sir, Sentry Dobby is bringing you mail from Lord Malfoy. You said if they sent a message, to bring it right away." The little elf reminded him.

Severus let out a huge sigh, tightened his arms around his young lover for a brief minute and tried to get his control back before facing the little creature. Lucius had awful timing. He released Harry and turned around.

He took the message and read it, asked Sentry Dobby for a quill and paper and scratched out a message for them to come see him the next day. It would be New Years Eve but he would see what they wanted. They could come after lunch. "Sentry Dobby, do you know how to make a portkey?" Severus asked after finishing his note.

"Yes, Master Severus, I can make a portkey."

"I need you to go make a portkey for Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape to come here at two o'clock tomorrow afternoon. I don't want it to be duplicated or traced and they are to arrive in the first level receiving area."

"Yes sir, Master Prince, it will be done." Dobby then popped out of the room and went to do as his master commanded.

Severus, who was getting very exasperated at all the interruptions, grabbed Harry's hand, muttered "Mine", and proceeded to pull him all the way to the bedroom. Thankfully, they had no more interruptions. When he closed the bedroom door, he warded and put up silencing spells and looked to his lover.

The next morning Harry woke up first, deliciously sore and reveling in the previous evenings activities. He shifted slightly, waking his lover as he threw his leg over Severus' hips and moved to straddle him as he reached up to kiss him good morning.

"Do you have any idea how much I love you?" the older man asked.

"Mmmmmmmmm" Harry answered sleepily. "I am hoping it's as much as I love you."

"Definitely." Severus answered before catching his lover's lips in a kiss. It was gentle and firm as he explored the younger man's mouth. His arms tightened around him as he thought about being able to live his entire life with Harry. When they broke apart, he buried his face in the dark tresses and savored the moment before they had to get up and start their day.

After breakfast, the first order of the day was to relocate the former werewolves that were currently in yet another wing on the first floor. Severus and Harry were no longer wondering why the place was so huge after the initial panic of incoming injured. They could see what utter chaos it would be if there had been more people and not enough room to house all of them.

The most concern was for the young boy that Remus had saved. He apparently didn't belong to any of the others and had wondered into the open area because he heard voices. From what they could gather he had been lost in the woods for several days and had been starving because he didn't know what to eat. The couple that had been the most severely injured decided to take him in as he was only about two years younger than their own child. The children had seemed to form some sort of familial bond as they had watched the others being healed. They had watched as Fawkes healed the couple and as the healers worked to make everyone better. They had clung to each other in fear as the chaos had turned from pandemonium to organized confusion, and then falling asleep together as their fears were assuaged as everyone was healed.

Now it was time to find them a place to live. The couple admitted that they had been bitten about four years prior on a camping trip and they were not magical. They had lived in a wooded area with other werewolves until finding out about the werewolf cure. Remus had found the pack accidentally while seeing to another pack in the same woods a few miles away.

Harry had a new appreciation for the work Remus was doing. He hadn't realized he had to hike and Apperate everywhere to find these people and bring them the help they needed. Some came by word of mouth from other packs but others had to be found in remote locations. So far they had helped over one hundred werewolves, usually twelve to fifteen at a time.

The couple that took in the small boy were assigned to a house in the neighborhood that was owned by Prince Conglomerate on Wisteria Walk and given jobs at the muggle part of the hospital. It turned out that they were both on holiday from medical school when attacked. They could finish their internship at the muggle hospital and decide what they wanted to do from there. Harry found it was really nice to be able to help people for a change. So far he felt like he was the one getting all the help.

That afternoon Harry and Severus concluded that Severus would be the one to deal with the two expected guests. He went up to the first level receiving area at two o'clock without Harry to wait for his two visitors. Just as he entered the room, they portkeyed in. Sentry Dobby was also there to check for any traces of tracking devices or spells on them, just to be sure. Severus also noticed Fifth and Sixth Born in the corner quietly slithering against the wall while keeping an eye on the visitors. When Lucius didn't say anything about Dobby and Severus wondered if he even paid attention to the elves that served him.

The older man had to smile at the amount of security surrounding them. He knew he didn't need it, but it amused him to think everyone was so worried about him. Severus had dressed in his Prince Conglomerate business robes. He was not sure what these men wanted to speak to him about, but he wanted to keep it as professional as possible.

"Good afternoon, Gentlemen." the stoic older man greeted them. "I see that you have arrived safely. Please come this way and we will have tea served." Severus motioned for the men to join him in one of the rooms off to the side. They entered a comfortable looking sitting area. It had the inevitable fire place and mini floo. It was furnished with a leather sofa and chairs. The tea service was sitting on the low table in front of the furniture.

After tea was served, Severus looked at the two younger men and addressed them. "You asked for this meeting Gentlemen. Could you explain to me what it is that you wanted to discuss?"

Now that Lucius Malfoy was sitting in front of the formidable head of the Prince household, he wasn't sure what to say. Of course he didn't let it show in his face, but he didn't know how far he could question the man.

"You said we needed training in Occlumency. Can you tell me why?" Lucius approached the subject carefully.

"The Dark Lord uses Legilimacy to tell if you are lying, Dumbledore uses it to get at your secrets, although not as aggressively as Vol..." He stopped himself as the men started to cringe in his presence. He remembered how uncomfortable it was to hear the name when he was that age and afflicted with the mark. He cleared his throat and started to explain.

"These two men are very delusional in their thinking. The old coot is more dangerous than you think if only because everyone admires him and listens to him. Occlumency is the only way to protect you from them."

Lucius Malfoy raised his eyebrow in disbelief. This man may not think much of the Dark Lord, but he didn't think much of Dumbledore either. Most people he met were on one side or the other. This man was implying that he was on a side all his own. "We are interested in your offers of yesterday and what you have to say. Can you tell us how you can possibly train us in Occlumency in two days? You didn't explain fully when you mentioned it."

"Are you gentlemen fully prepared for a two day absence?" Severus was wondering if they realized it was New Years Eve. He knew the younger Snape didn't have any plans or any one to celebrate with but Lucius had a family.

"I am going to try to procure a time turner tomorrow so we may take the time needed and not be missed. We would prefer not to have our absence noticed by certain individuals." Lucius said, obviously the spokesman for the two of them.

"When would you like to do the training?" Severus asked.

"We have a meeting on the second of January to present our report. If our Occlumency shields can hold, we can omit our meeting with you altogether." Snape was the one that answered. He wanted to dangle the benefit to this man in protecting the Prince family by protecting the younger men at the same time. He seemed to be more Slytherin than some of the others he had met here, but all apparently had Slytherin qualities.

Severus smirked inside his head, the expression on his face showed no emotion at all. "We can provide the time turner if you are ready now. This way there is no risk of someone else finding out you used one."

Somehow Malfoy was not surprised and had in fact predicted this. The only thing that showed on his face was the lifted eyebrow as he looked at Snape as if asking what he wanted to do. Snape gave an almost imperceptible nod of his head and Malfoy looked back to the man in front of him. "We can return to our homes just to pack an overnight bag and be back with in the hour."

This statement told Severus two things. They were not completely ready to do this and that they had not anticipated his ability to see to their request. He had a calculated look on his face as he told them, "We have all you need for your time here. You do not need to return to your homes and pack." He paused to see what their reaction would be then added, "I need to speak with my fiancé and see if he is agreeable to this arrangement."

Now that statement surprised Lucius. He didn't know why the man would have to check with his intended if they were using a time turner and would only be gone two days. He was not going to go ask his wife for permission and since she would not miss him, she didn't need to know at all. He nodded his head in understanding, even though he didn't really comprehend and Severus got up to use the mini floo.

He threw some floo powder into the inglenook and said, "Prince Quarters!" Then as he was standing there Harry's face came into view. "Hello, love. Could you come up here? I need to confer with you about something."

"Be right there!" Came the chipper answer from the young man. When Severus turned around from the mini floo, he saw Snape and Malfoy frozen in their chairs looking at the two slithering bodies on the floor.

Severus followed their line of sight to the two snakes on the floor and hissed, ** "_Hello Sixth Born and Fifth Born. What brings you here to the first level?"_ ** He watched his two guests cringe as the parslemouth language was spoken.

_**"We sensed strangers."** _Fifth Born said. **"_These strangers have the evil mark. We don't like that. Why are they here master?"**_

_**"They are here for training so we can remove the evil mark that is on their arm. They do not mean us any harm. They have been deceived as your mother was."** _Severus replied to Fifth Born.

**"_We can smell their fear, master."** _Sixth Born interjected.

**"_I know. In our world, some evil men have used snake language and it is not easily accepted. Perhaps we can change that later, but for now all we can do is not speak it in public."** _Severus didn't really know how to explain to them about the evil, except to remind them of the evil that killed their father and ultimately their mother.

**"_We understand_."** They said together before slithering back against the wall to watch in silence.

Just about that time, Harry entered the room. He had tried to figure out why Severus wanted him up here. They had agreed that Harry would stay out of these negotiations and Severus would handle it.

"Hey, Sev, I'm here now. What's up?" Harry said.

"These gentlemen want to have Occlumency training as soon as possible before they have to report to the Dark Lord about the originators of the book that they received, and about the publishing company that printed it."

"When is that meeting? Do we have time?"

"The meeting is on the second of January and we always have time. I would like to use a time turner and go into the training room to help them increase their Occlumency skills so they can keep our secrets and their's."

"You mean from What's-his-face?"* Harry asked with a smile.

Severus smirked, "That would be the one. You know, you are enjoying that way too much."

"He made my life miserable for sixteen years. I want a little fun now that I have the freedom to say what I want." Harry said rebelliously. "So what do you want me to do?" Harry still didn't understand where this was going.

"We are going to use a time turner and go back three days. Then we will meet in one of the training rooms and get started. I want you to contact Remus and Regulus to join us. If I am going to teach this, I would prefer to teach you all at one time." Severus explained.

Harry went to the mini floo and called Reg first, as he was at the publishing company. Then he called Remus at his home office but didn't get an answer. He then shouted for Valet Nixy and the little elf popped into the room almost immediately.

"Yes, Master Prince. How may Valet Nixy serve you?" The elf bowed slightly as he said this and waited for Harry's answer.

"Do you know where Remus is?" Harry asked politely.

"Yes Master Prince, he is finishing up with another werewolf pack. He should be back home soon, it was a small pack of ten people." The little elf was very polite and articulate. Lucius was sitting, watching the exchange. He felt like there were surprises around every corner in this place.

"Good." Harry then commanded the elf. "Go and pack an overnight bag for him. He can wear comfortable clothes. Then tell him as soon as he gets home to use his portkey to the first level receiving room. We need him to start training for something right away."

"It will be done, Master Prince." Then the elf popped away.

Severus then turned to Fifth Born and hissed his instructions to him. **"_Fifth Born, can you go tell Becca that we need a time turner right away and we will be in training for two or three days with Malfoy and Snape? She should be able to send you back with it._"** Severus knew she would be waking up from her afternoon nap and was not near the floo.

**"_Yes, Master_."** The snake replied before climbing up the wall in an indentation that looked more ornamental than serviceable. He punched a button with his mouth that dropped some floo powder into the fire and entered the mini floo and then hissed his destination. Next thing anyone knew, the mini floo was empty and Fifth Born was gone.

Harry stood there and watched with amazement. "Is that how they have been getting around the manor? I thought they had made tunnels or something. How does the mini floo know their destination?" Harry looked at Severus for answers.

The older man smiled and said, "You didn't realize they were using the floo?" Harry shook his head no. "Becca and I spelled the mini floos here to accept parsletongue destinations."

"I kept wondering how they were getting around. Nice work. Where was I when you were doing all this?"

"I believe you were sleeping and recuperating when we first came." Harry nodded his head in understanding to what Severus said.

They could hear Regulus calling from the next room. Severus called out and told him to enter the side room they were all in.

Regulus took in the scene with the two Death Eaters sitting comfortably in their chairs. They were obviously part of what ever Severus had in mind. Just as he was about to ask however, Remus was calling from the other room to find out where they were. When he entered, he was carrying an overnight bag.

They both looked at Severus expectantly for an answer to their unasked questions. What were they doing here and why now?

A/N *This contribution to the long list of names Harry will use for Voldemort came from Airlady on FF. Thank you Airlady!


	46. The True Pureblood Ways

Posted: 13 November 2009

Chapter 46: The True Pureblood Ways

As Severus now had the attention of everyone around him, he addressed the young five men. "Gentlemen, we are going to learn Occlumency. There is an immediate need for some of you to learn it and I want to teach it only once. Every one of you has some basic knowledge and or ability, so this will not take long. I know you three," he pointed to Harry, Reg and Remus, "know what I mean when I say we will be spending time in the training room on this level." He then turned his attention to Snape and Malfoy, "Before we begin, you should know, if this does not work or I find out you are here under false pretences, you will be obliviated and immediately portkeyed out of here. Do I make myself understood?"

Malfoy looked at Snape and both men, not showing an ounce of emotion or surprise, nodded and said, "We understand."

Severus continued with his lecture. "I trust I won't have to tell you how... displeased... I would be to find out you are here to get information for..." Severus paused as he looked for the words Harry used earlier, "What's-His-Face."

"Earlier you implied that you do not follow Dumbledore," Harry snorted, but Lucius ignored him, "and we know you don't follow the Dark Lord. Who do you follow?"

Severus looked pensive for a moment and then broke out into a grin. "We follow the old ways of Merlin." With that cryptic statement the room fell silent.

Fifth Born appeared in the floo with a small bag in his mouth and slithered over to Severus. After putting the article down, he hissed. **"_Master, here is your time turner. Mistress Becca asked if you need anything else?"** _Fifth Born informed him.

**"_Yes. Ask her to have the portrait of Salazar Slytherin moved to the first level training room. Then you can tell the rest of The Seven that we are traveling back in time a few days and they should come with us. Except Seventh Born, she should stay with Becca. We will be using the time turner to travel so it won't be like before. You will be staying with us in the first level training facilities."** _Severus told the snake.

**"_Yes, Master."** _The snake replied and slithered back to the floo to return to the Prince quarters and speak with Becca.

Harry, raised an eyebrow at Severus for an explanation. Severus, hissed to his mate. **"_I didn't want the other two to know about the portrait till after we begin training and I can read them more thoroughly."** _Harry nodded his head in understanding.

A few minutes later, a house elf came with overnight bags for Severus, Harry and Regulus. Severus declared them ready to begin. "We will be going back three days to make sure we have enough time. Once we enter the training facility, we will not be able to come out until we have completed our assigned training up to the three days. Does everyone understand?" All five men nodded in response. "Good."

First Born came through the floo, and then as he removed his body, the floo flared again to emit Second Born. As the remainder of The Seven came into the room (except Seventh Born), Snape and Malfoy looked decidedly ill.

"Don't worry, gentlemen," Severus said, "they won't hurt you. They are our familiars and stay with us at all times. You don't need to worry unless you attack us." But worry was just what Severus wanted them to do. He wanted to keep them in line until he was sure they were going to 'join their side'. He knew Snape was already tired of being Voldemort's whipping boy, but he wasn't sure about Lucius. He was always such a die hard when it came to blood purity, but that could have been a front so he, too, wasn't Voldemort's whipping boy. It also could have been to protect his family. Severus just hoped they would be receptive to all the training he had in store for them.

As he led them back to the receiving area and down the corridor to yet another set of rooms, the others followed in silence. They were a funny group with six men and six snakes. Only two of the snakes were being held. First Born was around Harry's neck and Fifth Born was around Severus'. The remainder of the snakes was following the men down the hall. Regulus, who was starting to get used to having them around, ignored them, but the other men (especially our favorite Death Eaters) kept looking back to see what the other snakes were doing. It was almost like being at a meeting where Nagini always slithered around and she was not a basilisk. They hoped they were not making a mistake.

As Severus reached the end of the corridor, he opened the door and announced. "Now is the time to back out if you want to. After this door shuts it will not open for three days." He took out the time turner and encompassed all six men with it's chain. Next thing they new it was three days ago. As they walked through the door then came into what looked to be the common room. There were several squashy chairs and the sofa with low tables scattered about.

"Through the door to our left is the living area where the dining area is and the bedroom suites, and to the right is the door that leads to the training room or classrooms. This part of the manor is not for dueling. The other training rooms are on the second level."

"What level are we in now?" Lucius asked. He realized this place was much larger than he first imagined; maybe as large as Malfoy Estates.

"We are in the first level. There are three levels to this facility." Harry responded to his query.

Lucius wondered just how big one level was. He looked around the room. It was furnished with expensive, well made furniture. Most of it was more modern, but there were several old antique tables you would find in most pureblood homes. The room was comfortable though, nothing severely ornate. It was a relaxing room set up more for study than to entertain people. There were several book shelves packed with old tomes and he wondered if they would be studying from the books. Some of them were quite old.

Severus and Harry with Remus and Reg had gone to look into the bedroom suites so they could pick out their rooms, but the other two were in the common room looking around.

When the four men returned to the common room, they saw Malfoy and Snape perusing through the tomes on the shelves. Severus interrupted them my asking them to sit down.

"There is one thing I need to tell you about this area. One, you will not reveal anything about this room to anyone else, not even your wife Malfoy. The function of this room remains hidden." Severus said sternly.

"What are you talking about? It's a room like any other, isn't it?"

Harry snickered and Severus gave him a quelling look to stop him. "This room is a time displacement room. One hour outside this room equals one day inside this room. We actually can be in this room for seventy two days instead of seventy two hours in a three day period. I believe you gentlemen have already experienced that kind of time lapse."

"Is this the same rooms we were in before? We spent the night and over half a day here and then arrived at my residence only three hours after we left to meet with Lupin?

"That is correct."

"I didn't know that kind of thing was possible. Are you going to build these too?"

Severus smiled and said, "No, we don't have plans to have these kinds of rooms available to anyone else. They are too dangerous in the wrong hands and if everyone knew about them we would lose our advantage."

Lucius nodded that he understood but then asked, "How soon are you going to offer the mini floos? I would like Malfoy Manor outfitted as soon as production begins."

Of course he did, Severus thought, he has to have everything first. "We have a crew that will be outfitting another home soon so that they will be our spokespersons. There are several crews that will be working on this project after the holidays. Your house can be outfitted at the same time. I must warn you though, the construction crew is mostly made up of goblins and we will not tolerate any discrimination against them. Of all magical creatures, they are the best builders and warders to be found. Don't give them any problems if you want your house fitted with the mini floo system."

Lucius raised one elegant eyebrow at the man as if in disbelief. He had never had a goblin in his house before except when coming from the bank with some papers.

"You do know that this may cause a problem with some of the older families wanting this installed. They may not take too kindly to having those creatures in their homes." Lucius felt he should caution him.

"Then they will be on their knees to talk to others instead of standing or sitting in a chair in comfort to speak in the floo. We will not give this job to wizards. They lack the skill necessary for the rune work built into the floo. There are a few wizard apprentices, but they aren't trained yet and we have to be cautious in whom we place our trust." Severus informed him.

"You place your trust in goblins instead of wizards? That is a little unusual."

"We have a mutually beneficial arrangement. They will not break our trust if we don't break theirs."

Lucius nodded again in understanding. This was indeed the way that the goblin nation believed. He could see the man's point.

Severus could see that Lucius was thinking about what he said. He needed to move on to the training, they were going to need all the time they could get to teach them to occlude Voldemort.

"We can discuss this later. Right now we need to get settled and start on your training." Severus then remembered the two men didn't have clothes to put into their rooms. The others had claimed their rooms by putting their overnight bags in them. "Seamstress Sissy!" the man shouted and in popped a little elf with a tape measure around her neck and scissors in her hand.

"Good afternoon, Master Prince. What may I do for you today?" The little elf asked. She was dressed in overalls with the Prince Conglomerate crest on the front of her bib. Her hair was sticking out all over the place but she had a smile on her face.

"We need your help. I need several changes of clothes for these two gentlemen. They will be staying here for a while."

"Yes, Master Prince." Then Seamstress Sissy pointed her finger at one of the men and a parchment appeared with the measurements of the man. Another spell and the other man's measurements appeared on another parchment. "I will have them ready in a few hours. What kind of clothes did you need?"

"Mostly casual, a few days worth, but one set of dress robes and one set of silk everyday robes and night time clothes too. That should be enough for their time here." Severus heard Snape start to protest, but strangely enough Lucius shut him up. It was customary in wealthy pureblood families to provide clothing or other needs for their guests if an unexpected visit arose. It was not always new clothes, but he knew Snape could use them. Just because Severus was surrounded by wealth now, didn't mean he forgot how he lived at this age, trying to find work and study for his Potions Mastery at the same time. Even now, standing next to Lucius Malfoy, Snape looked like the pauper he was, and out of place. Severus was hoping to change all of that.

"I suggest you find a room you will be comfortable in and freshen up before we begin. I will have tea brought to the dining room." Severus directed everyone.

An hour later they were sitting down to tea and Severus handed everyone a book on Occlumency and Legilimency. It was a book he found amongst the others Becca brought that was written by him in the future. Of course he would be the only one that could write a competent book, he thought smugly.

"This book has not been available before. I suggest you read four chapters before retiring tonight and practice the exercises in here. We will begin the real practical part of learning tomorrow. I want to go over our time table today."

"Sev, where did this book come from? It would have helped when I was taking lessons last year."

"Becca had it; it came with her and was not available when we started your training in fifth year."

After speaking softly with Harry, Severus addressed the other young men in front of him. "Let me first explain how this room works. It is a time displacement room. It is warded and sectioned off to itself. It is made by layering runes and other symbols of long forgotten time magic. Every hour in here is 2 and one half minutes outside, and in here 24 day equals 24 hours. I am sure you gentlemen can do the math. We have the option of taking 72 days to learn this branch of Occlumency. I suggest we don't waste it."

Severus paused in his explanation to make sure everyone understood. The more they understood now the fewer questions later.

Lucius seemed to have caught on as he asked, "I thought Time Magic could only be done by Time Spirits and there has not been one of those in almost a millennia. How did you find it?"

"We didn't find it, it found us. I can say no more about this. It is what it is and that is how we can train you to protect yourselves and us in the process." Severus looked the remainder of the group in the eye then asked, "Are there any more questions?" As they all shook their heads no, the professor continued on to the next subject.

"Occlumency is the art of shielding ones mind from the penetration of Legilimency. It is a structured discipline to build shields around ones thoughts and memories. Double Occlumency, is similar, but it allows for images to be seen. The idea is to have two sets of shields and two sets of images. One set, the true set, is buried deep within the occluding walls, the other; the false set is buried behind weaker walls to give the Legilimens a false sense of security. One wall is to be broken down with some resistance; the other is not to be broken under any circumstances."

"Harry, help me demonstrate." The young man got up with his wand ready. "First Harry, close your eyes and concentrate on the magic flowing around you... Then pull back on the magic and rein in some of that power." Harry nodded, his eyes still closed. "Now hit me with an aguamenti." As Harry threw the spell at Severus, the older man threw up a protection charm.

"Now gentlemen that is the true image to be hidden." Severus asked.

"Wait a minute; it was you, in Diagon Alley! You and the others that threw up Merlin's shield!" Lucius' aristocratic facade actually cracked for a minute. Severus smiled at that.

"That was not the point I was trying to make, but yes we are the people that were attacked in Diagon Alley before Christmas."

"Now, the point I was trying to make was this is the memory to bury deep behind your walls, but to keep this memory from being known to others, trying to delve into your mind, on the surface you should make a similar memory. For example, Harry threw a curse and I was drenched from head to toe." Severus once again looked at the five men in front of him. "The idea is to bury the true memory behind both shields and it will be impossible to access, while keeping the semi false memory easier to access. It is always easier to hide a lie if it is partially the truth."

As Severus paused in his teaching, Seamstress Sissy popped in to hand him the two bags of clothing for the two men. Severus hadn't realized how long they had been at this and gave everyone a break for the remainder of the evening.

The five students and one professor, continued like that for twenty four days. After that they started to evaluate how they were doing. One third of their time was up and they were making remarkable improvements. Some more than others, but that was expected as some of them already knew the subject.

Harry by this point had the whole concept down. Of course he had trained with Severus before, but for some reason he really had mastered it before the week was out. He was now helping Severus train the others and no one, not even Lucius, complained that the youngest member of their group was teaching instead of learning.

In the second twenty four day period they practiced layering the same memories one on top of another one and how the mind could remember the same thing in different degrees. Again Harry got this immediately and helped Severus with the others. When they broke up into groups of two, Severus working with Snape and Malfoy and Harry working with Reg and Remus then switching to give them a different approach it really put the men through their paces. By the end of every evening, all six of the men were tired and had no problems falling asleep.

By the end of the second twenty four day period Severus declared them competent in the art of Occlumency, but they still needed to practice their discipline. He was excited that it hadn't taken longer for them to finish, so now he was ready to introduce them to the next phase of their training.

**What exactly is the pure blood way?**

All six men were in the common room talking or reading. Severus had called them to be there but they were waiting for something. They were dressed in their best dress robes but they didn't know who or what they were waiting for.

Severus tapped the portrait frame on the wall with his wand. A few minutes later, a man entered and stood watching the others. They apparently hadn't noticed him yet and he took the opportunity to observe the men he was about to address. They all appeared to be pureblood wizards. This was the first phase of introducing the true pureblood ways to the rest of the world. He didn't know why he was asked, except that most of these people were from Slytherin House and he wanted to see what his house was producing.

Lucius was the first one to notice the portrait frame was now filled with someone. Upon further inspection, he nudged Snape to get his attention so the two of them could identify the newcomer. Snape gasped and rose from his seat. The others focused their attention and then realized Salazar Slytherin had arrived. They all rose to greet him formally. Lucius was the only one who had a hard time recognizing him.

"Greetings, Lord Slytherin. It is quite a pleasant surprise to make your acquaintance." The future potions master bowed in front of the frame then stepped back to let the others greet the great man. As each of the other men greeted the portrait formally, Harry at the end of the line just said, "Hey Sal, nice to see you again so soon." He then realized it was not until tomorrow that they would actually meet the portraits in the second level training room. "Oh, sorry, I guess our other meeting hasn't happened yet." Then he used the greeting the others used and stepped back.

Salazar had an amused sparkle in his eyes as he looked at Harry. "Don't worry Harry, I know you used a time turner but I have the information from our last visit. It has something to do with the time displacement runes used in the room. I remember you command The Seven, are they here now?"

"Seventh Born is going to be so mad at me, I told her the next time we met with you she could visit, but the remainder of The Seven are here." Harry started looking around for the snakes in question. "_First Born, where are you guys?" _Harry hissed around. They started coming closer, a few entering the room from the living quarters and the others from around the room. Second Born was under the sofa, while First Born was under a table right next to were Malfoy had been sitting.

"_Hello, Seven, or maybe I should say six since your sister is not with you. I am the master of your mother. It is a pleasure to meet you. How are these humans taking care of you?"_

_"We are most fortunate to have these humans. They are not like the evil student that killed Father and made Mother do bad things. These humans help people to save our magical world." _First Born informed the great wizard.

"_Well, you keep and eye out and let me know if anything strange starts to happen. I will be most interested to see how things turn out."_ Salazar spoke to the snakes.

"Now gentlemen, pull up some chairs facing me and sit down. We are going to have a history lesson and learn about the old pureblood ways. This world has shifted so far away from where it is supposed to be, it will take all of you and more to get it back to the way it should be." Salazar then took a seat in his own portrait and prepared to tell the story.

As the older wizard settled comfortably into his frame, he turned to his students and asked, "Now, does anyone have any questions before we start?"

Lucius raised his had slightly, feeling like a schoolboy instead of a Lord in his own right. "I though the Dark Lord was a direct heir of yours. Is that not true? He proclaims to be the heir of Slytherin."

"Although he may be descended from me, he is not my heir. Because of a prophecy and the insight of a seer, I had declared long ago that Harry is my magical heir; he and another child that is yet to be born. The downfall of our world is coming and without some intervention we are all doomed, so we are here to help those that have been chosen. We arranged for our portraits to be available to the right people in this time."

"What do you mean by 'we'?" Snape asked.

"Why the founders of course. You didn't think I was the only one here, did you?" The only response from Lucius and Snape was the raised eyebrow expression and the closely controlled facial features. Snape turned to Regulus, who just nodded his head that this was true. Everyone then again focused on the portrait.

"No more questions?" Salazar waited a minute. "Good, let's move on. Please let me tell the history and then save your questions for the end of the session. We will be going over this for the next week or so and I am sure the others will come and fill in from time to time." Salazar assured him.

"In the beginning there was a great power. From his own essence he took and created a feminine counterpart with all his powers and abilities. These were the first of the Gods and Goddesses. The great power and his counterpart were very happy together and wanted to create more happiness. They separated light and dark so now there was day and night. They worked in the day and rested at night but saw that night was unprotected. Out of the earth, they created creatures of all kinds, some were for the light of day and some were for the dark of night, looking over what had been created and keeping it safe. The great power and his counterpart were happy. Then the great power gave one last gift to his creations. The power of free will. The power to choose right from wrong and how they wanted to live their life."

During the night the dark creatures roamed the earth and kept watch, sleeping or resting during the time of light. During the day, the light creatures kept watch, sleeping or resting during the time of dark. During the dusk and dawn when light took over dark or dark took over light, all creatures were able to get together for great feasts and companionship with one another, neither one serving the other any more than the other served him. All taking care of the hidden magical world in which they lived.

After a fashion, the creatures wanted to spread their happiness and started to come together to create life and give birth. Many were soul mated and lived long and prosperous lives. Creature with like creature and human with like human. All was well and the great power and his companion were loved by all beings.

The humans and creatures gave themselves names for their particular species. The men and women were witches and wizards, and then there were vampires, goblins, werewolves, elves, mer-people who kept the oceans safe. Within each of these species, there were other sub sets such as high elves, light elves, dark elves, alphas, packs. There were also other creatures, ones with out power such as cattle, fish, sheep and others that were for food.

As their family grew and the great powers grew older, they needed help. The smallest of the elves were less powerful than the others and actually liked helping their fellow creatures most. Their bodies were not as strong and their power was weakening with each generation. It was feared that they would die out and be no more. The great power, saddened by this news, told them "If you bond with us and pledge yourself to us, we will be able to protect you and share our power. You will work within our homes and in our businesses. The elves agreed and went to the great power for his help. The great power created a ritual and bonded with the elves that had come to him. As soon as the bond was finished the grey pallor of the elves left and they were immediately stronger. So, thus, house elves were created.

Over many generations, they looked after the great powers and their children and helped keep them happy and healthy. They served them by cooking and cleaning and helping where they were wanted. They stayed healthy under the protection of their masters and served them well. Other wizards started to go to the great power for their own elves and the whole community started to thrive once more.

There came a time, much later, that the human bodies of the great power and his companion grew old and weak. The great power wanted to move on to the next great adventure and the companion with him. They gathered all their creations together and told them it was time for them to leave but the gifts that they were given, were for all time. Their work, rituals and research on the beginnings would be left with the two oldest children Merlin and Morgan as they were also bonded as soul-mates and could follow all the old ways.

"Our human bodies are weakening and it takes more power every day to sustain them. We will be leaving you very soon. Remember your gift of free will and that free will was given to all in the beginning of time. You must care for your fellow creatures and not bring harm to them. Live in peace and harmony. We love you all and if there should be a bad time, rest assured we will still be with the earth and sky to help you through it. Goodbye all." With that said both the great powers were taken by the wind and earth and their power was imbued into the ground and sky as the powers could cover the earth and help protect it forever.

After the great powers disappeared, there was chaos all around; everyone was distraught and saddened about them leaving. Some even felt abandoned because they left.

The wood nymphs, spoke first saying "Wait, we can feel a new power in the earth. The ground is charged with power. Just stop wailing and feel!!!

The dragons and griffins and birds roared from the sky "We can feel the new power in the air. They are still here!"

The phoenix trilled from the heavens, "There is a new birth and greater power in the universe!"

As the years past and the older generation died off, the children of the children of the creatures formed by the great ones drifted from the old ways and forgot the old lessons. A new evil was born from the depths of greed and jealously and started to take hold of the world. Some humans thought they were better than the creatures that protected the earth and so the other creatures went into hiding, keeping their powers to themselves and stopped teaching and learning with the other species. Each hiding into their own kingdom with their own royalty and servants.

The wizards became of the mind that they did not need the other creatures and would not live with them. The only ones left to help the wizards were the house elves still bound to the humans and dependent on their magic to stay healthy and strong.


	47. The Teachings of Salazar

Posted: 14 November 2009

Chapter 47: The Teachings of Salazar

All six of the men sat in their cushy chairs, Harry sitting next to Severus in an extended love seat with First Born in his lap, listening to the founder tell his tale of the beginnings of the magical world. It wasn't like anything they had every heard of, but now Harry understood some of the magnitude of what was going on. All of the contracts with other beings; helping with a second bank, Gringotts II, where all creatures could bank and do business without the wizarding laws interfering. All the help they provided to others while getting them to help with goods or services that were specifically designed for their magical powers; everything that had overwhelmed him in the beginning when he started learning the business. All of it finally came to a complete understanding of what they were trying to accomplish. They were creating the old world, the one in the beginning that had been lost. Harry was getting a headache and leaned against Severus. He didn't know how anyone was going to manage that.

As Salazar Slytherin sat in his portrait, he waited for what he had said to settle in. He knew there would be some trouble accepting this as it was so outside the realm of what they had now, but they had to start somewhere.

Lucius was, of course, was the first one to speak. "You mean you want us to live in peace with all creatures? We are to be friendly and help them? Are you out of your mind?" The blonde aristocrat was incensed with the idea of being nice to all those disgusting creatures. He barely tolerated goblins at the bank.

"Each creature has a certain aspect to their magic that is unique. Even though many species may manage to duplicate others magic, it is not as well as it could be. Goblins, for example can do warding and weapon making better than any other creature in the magical world, but wizards can ward also, just not as well as goblins and wizard weapons aren't even close to the power of goblins. The only type of wizard that can do another species' magic as well as that species is an elemental wizard. That has only been given to those who need it at a crucial time in our world. Contrary to current beliefs, elemental wizards are chosen not born. They are not accidents at birth and they cannot be genetically created."

"The Dark Lord has some elemental power, and so does Dumbledore." Lucius felt he should inform him.

"Your Tom Riddle steals the power he uses from his followers. The mark on your arm is a variation of a slave brand that allows him to leach your magic for his own purposes. He steals power from many and **appears **to have a little elemental power." He watched as the two Death Eaters processed that little bit of information.

"You mean the book was true? Not just a hoax to get back at the Dark Lord?" Snape questioned.

"The book was written by us and yes, every word in that book is true." Severus replied.

Salazar continued from his interrupted lecture. "Dumbledore on the other hand, did not use slave brands, he learned how to pull magical energy from the school's wards and from the earth. He wanted to be Headmaster until he could find a child with elemental powers so he could exchange his essence with the child, using a voodoo ritual he found when traveling through Africa and some parts of the southern US. He does not have elemental powers, but he does have access to great power as everyone does if they study and find out how to access it."

"Can any one access this great power?" Lucius wanted to know. The Dark Lord had promised great power but if he didn't have it, was it an empty promise? How could he lie to them so effectively?

"Any one can access great power within reason. Magic was made to work together. It is like having two magnets. If you face them off, the polarization works to push them apart or works against itself. When they are put together correctly, they hold fast and become stronger. This was part of the old ways teaching. In working TOGETHER as a TEAM, you become stronger. In working on your own or forced to face evils BY YOURSELF" Salazar looked at Harry, who's cheeks were turning pink; "you are at your weakest point and cannot fully succeed." The others looked a little puzzled at the emphasis of his words, but Severus gave Harry a pointed look and a raised eyebrow. Salazar seemed to be getting a point across to him so the others assumed there was something they would find out later about the young man.

Harry however was in turmoil. If he was the prophesied child in his time line, why didn't anyone know about what he needed to complete his mission? Severus who was sitting next to Harry placed a finger on his chin to turn his head towards him. "The wrong people got to you first." He said quietly. "It was not as it was supposed to be. You have now been placed on the correct path and you never have to go through that again." Severus could see the tears start to form in his lover's eyes. He excused himself and Harry from the group and led him into their bedroom to hold onto the young man. He let Harry cry silently while standing there holding him until he got himself under control.

Salazar watched them as they left the room with a worried expression on his face.

"What just happened?" asked Snape.

"Harry's parents were killed when he was barely a toddler. He was given certain gifts from the ancient magiks to be able to stop this war. The wrong people finagled their way into being 'placed in trust' to care for him. When others tried to stop what was going on they were deterred at every move, some even threatened with imprisonment. He lived a life of servitude, being beaten and starved most of his childhood and preadolescent life. He didn't even know he was a wizard until he was eleven. He was always called a freak for the accidental magic that happened around him."

"His appointed magical guardian blocked his magic as much as he could. The people who were in charge of his care tried to beat the magic out of him. He has almost died a few times, the last being a few weeks before Christmas. In the magical world he was always forced to fight his battles alone and told he could win because he was special but was given no training or information. When he couldn't get a complete victory, he was ridiculed by the media because he was supposed to save them. Like the magnets trying to fuse together using polar opposites, he had nothing to work with. He was expected to single-handedly save the world with no training and no help. He took his responsibilities very seriously. He is just beginning to understand the atrocities that have been done to him."

"I have never heard of him, so how could he have been in the media or have these responsibilities?" Lucius felt if the young man was that important they should have heard of him somehow.

"He is not from here. This happened at the other place he fled from. That is why the other founders and I are here, to train him and set things right and to keep our heritage from destroying itself in this senseless war." Salazar was not going to tell them anything about time travel or Time Sprits at this time. It was up to Severus and Harry to divulge that information. They were the ones who had to live with the consequences.

"How were we chosen to be here? What do we contribute to the situation? I know I don't have elemental powers." Regulus said.

"You gentlemen were not specifically chosen by the ancient magiks, you were chosen by the men in the other room." Salazar paused to get his thoughts together so he didn't say too much to these men. "You all have something to give to this situation. We know that the dark mark will wipe out all the Death Eater factions as soon as Riddle dies. Is that what you want?"

"You keep calling him Riddle. Why is that?" Lucius asked.

"Didn't you read the whole book?" Regulus asked his two former compatriots. "Tom Marvolo Riddle is the Dark Lord's true name. If you scramble the letters it reads 'I am Lord Voldemort'. He gave himself a new name to keep his muggle father hidden. He didn't want anyone to know he was a half-blood or was raised in a muggle orphanage."

Lucius looked at his wife's cousin and blinked... Then he blinked again... He was following a man who spouted blood purity and was only a half blood raised by muggles. Lucius sat very still and then said with narrowed eyes, "That is not possible."

"Sure it's possible and it's true. Just ask a goblin. They would have done the inheritance test on him." Regulus replied, wondering if there was something wrong with the aristocrat. He looked to be in shock and was not handling it with his usual aplomb. "It was the Dark Lord's mother that was a witch and claimed to be a descendent of Slytherin, but they lived very poorly in a shack in Little Haggleton, very close to the muggle village. That house that he likes so much, he procured after killing his muggle family so he couldn't be linked to them."

"How did you learn all of this?" Lucius asked the younger man.

Regulus smirked, rolled his eyes, and then said, "It's in the book!"

Remus, who had been staying out of the conversation completely, was still working on the information Salazar had given him about Harry. If he wasn't from here, where was he from? Why did he have Lily's eyes? Was it just a coincidence or was there something else going on? The baby Lily was carrying was going to be named Harry. He knew Severus was from the future, but he wasn't really sure about his fiancé. Regulus also knew that Severus was from the future, but the other two men, still sitting in the room, did not so they couldn't say anything about it. He hoped they would be told soon. It was hard trying to keep secrets from a select few.

Just as he was about to join the conversation between the three former Voldemort followers, their hosts entered back into the room. "We apologize for leaving you alone; I believe it is past time for tea. How about we take a break and have some refreshments?" Severus said as he entered the room with a slightly red eyed Harry.

After everyone excused themselves to freshen up, they ordered tea to be served on the low table in front of the chairs so Salazar could continue his lesson. It wasn't as if they had to take notes, just pay attention to what he was saying.

When everyone was settled again, Salazar asked, "Does anyone have any questions, so far?"

"Yes." was the answer from Snape. "Why are we here now?" He didn't understand why these men chose him to be here learning this. Not that he was repulsed by the idea; he just wanted to know why.

"I think I can answer that question." Severus spoke up. He wasn't really ready for this to be out, but his younger version needed to be told.

"A Time Spirit brought me back from the future. My name is now Severs Masterson Prince, but my former name was Severus Tobias Snape. I left my time on August 1, 1996"

Complete and total silence followed that statement.

Salazar was watching the reactions of the group before him. He could see that Severus hadn't wanted to reveal this information yet, but had no other way to explain everything going on. Remus and Regulus did not seem to be effected by the information and he surmised that they already knew or at least suspected. However, Snape and Malfoy were totally flummoxed. They had no clue that something like that would be said.

"Prove it." Snape said. He knew he had a resemblance to this man, but not that much.

"How would you like me to do that?" Severus asked

"Show me your arm." Snape demanded

"It won't do any good, the mark is gone. It was removed before Harry and I used sex magic to bond his core to mine."

"So your magical signature has changed." Snape stated. "That's dark magic and against the Ministry rules. Why did you do that?"

"Harry's core had been completely depleted and Voldemort was draining him. He couldn't regenerate it fast enough so it was the only thing anyone could come up with to save him quickly. We were not in the Ministry's jurisdiction so they couldn't say anything about it."

"You did it to save his life?" Snape snarled, he really didn't like the other man, and such a dangerous ritual could have been the end of them both. The boy was not much younger than him, but his counterpart was about twenty years older than his fiancé.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because he is my soulmate."

"Doesn't that make him my soulmate too?"

"No, he is from my timeline, not yours. We are here to fix a grave injustice. When we came back, we changed the outcome of certain aspects of this time. We cannot say for sure who your soulmate is."

Snape nodded as he thought about what the man had said. He didn't feel any kind of attraction or pull to Harry so the older man must be correct in his assessment, or perhaps lying. He wasn't sure at this point.

"What of my family?" Lucius asked.

"If the chain of events had remained unchanged, you family would all be wiped out about the year 2015."

"How is that possible? There have always been Malfoys. We always survive."

"It won't do any good to tell you what happened. We have already changed the course of history and it is irrelevant. This I will tell you, Narcissa has the mark on her arm also. Vol…" he watched them cringe, "alright 'what's his name'" he said impatiently, "drained her power when she was pregnant with your twin girls. As soon as you told that mad man you were having girls, he took it upon himself to drain their power as twins. He can do that to any pregnant woman with the mark and he has little respect for women except to use them as broodmares. Your twins show no significant power because he drained their core before birth. Now she is pregnant again but this time it is a son and you will name him Draco. The mad man will not drain Draco, because he is a male and an heir."

"How do you know all of this?"

"I was Godfather to the Draco of my time line."

Lucius slumped back into his seat, completely defeated. He didn't know where to go from here. The man in front of him was correct. His twin girls had no significant magical signature which usually showed a few weeks after birth. That was why he and Narcissa were trying again. They just assumed the girls were squibs, now he wasn't so sure. Prince was also correct about the other thing. He and Narcissa had spoken and agreed to name Severus Snape the Godfather of their unborn son.

"My daughters are going to have to live in the muggle world, because I didn't protect them." Lucius muttered to himself, although everyone heard what he said. It was Salazar that responded.

"No they will NOT!" Sal fussed vehemently. "That is another reason we are having so much trouble!" He got their attention again. "This is what caused the argument I had with Godric and Helga. If you keep throwing your squibs into the other world, you lose track of them and then generations later someone shows up as muggle born. You are throwing away your heritage!"

Sal sat back down in his portrait and huffed and mumbled to get his temper back under control. The others heard something about stupidity and wastefulness and idiotic behavior. After a fashion, he sat up in his chair and started to address the group again.

"When our school first opened, the wizarding world was already sending squibs into the muggle world. Every now and then a muggle would have some kind of strange ability and the others were curious. Sometimes we would come across a squib born that the magic would appear in, but at other times we would come across a muggle that had one special talent with no magical core. The others thought we could cultivate them if we brought them into the school. I disagreed. You cannot 'create' a magical core where none exists. Genetics doesn't work that way."

"So how do you filter out the muggles from the squib born?" Asked Harry.

"The book in the headmaster's office was created to detect magical cores in children so they could be invited to Hogwarts. It would not include muggle children. But then there was another argument. I wanted to bring squibs into the school so they could learn about their heritage and be surrounded by magic, even if they couldn't perform it. The others disagreed and refused. That was when I blew up at them and the argument escalated into what you are told today. I never wanted muggles in the school, there is no such thing as true muggleborn and the squib born should never have been sent away from our world to begin with. It was too much risk for exposure."

"So how do we make our squibs stay? What can they contribute to our society?" Lucius now had a vested interest in this answer, thinking about his daughters.

"Squibs are born when great powers of magic collide. It is unknown why but the magic sort of short-circuits and nullifies. It is a way of clearing the field for a new level of magic." Salazar paused to think then said. "Let me put it this way. A good farmer knows that he must rotate his fields; he will plant his fields for six years and then the seventh year leave the field fallow. When he plants his crop the next year in the fallow ground, it bares better and bigger produce. It has been that way since the beginning of time."

So far the men seemed to be following what he was saying, so he continued. "In a pureblood family, a marriage contract is sometimes made to put together two powerful mates. It is so the family can continue to grow in power and the line can continue. Sometimes a squib is born because the power cancels itself out. We have never determined why, and it has not been studied enough be predicted. This squib, instead of being treated as the rare treasure he or she is, is treated as a sub-human; as someone who doesn't fit in, someone who can't function in our world and is subsequently thrown out or sent away."

You could see the guilty looks flow across the faces of a few of the men, those that had grown up pureblood supremacists.

"Instead, they should be treated as the fallow ground, ready to create the best fruit of all. In the few cases where some weaker wizard married a squib, they produced children of great power. The genetic makeup of the powerful witch and wizard that created the squib, did not go away, it just got buried within the genetics of the child so that the ground could rest and be fruitful."

"But what about the muggles?" Regulus asked.

"Muggles cannot create magical children. A true muggle does not have the genetic makeup to create a magical core. That is why I say there is no such thing as a muggle born witch or wizard, only a squib born. The only time a muggle can create a witch or wizard is if they mate with a squib, then it is not the muggle that creates a magical person but the squib. Sometimes you will come across a very powerful so called muggleborn; this is a person that was begat from two squibs and not a muggle at all. When the genetics of the two squibs combine, it is like two powerful wizardkind mating and having a powerful child."

"So if that is what creates a muggleborn. How do we bring all the squibs back into our society? Snape asked.

Salazar answered as best he could. "You can't. The problem is that many of the squibs have mated with muggles. It is not a given that just because a parent is a squib, they will produce another squib or a witch or wizard. Many times they will produce a muggle child and the genetics are lost. That is why I say squibs need to stay in our world. They are the missing piece to expanding our population. We are dying off because we are sending away part of our society. If they stayed and married magical people, there would most definitely be a magical child produced."

"So how do we adjust to squibs staying in our world? How can they cope?" Lucius asked.

Severus answered this one. "You do what Becca does. She has a goblin crafted necklace, with several predestined locations in the links, she uses as a permanent portkey. It is spelled not to come off and cannot be removed. She has a special cloak she wears that is resistant to spells, and she has more knowledge of both worlds than you can imagine. She is also assigned a personal house elf that sees to her needs. She helps us write books and run the business and is smarter than you can possibly imagine."

"Becca? Are you talking about the young woman that was here the night of the attack? But she spoke parsletongue! How is she a squib?" Lucius was full of questions now.

"She is not a squib, but she is an underpowered witch. She has learned to 'borrow' magic temporarily from the ground and other people and she has learned to cope with who she is. Her core was drained before birth just like your daughters'. She is a remarkable young woman. You will have to meet her properly if you are willing to continue a relationship with our family." Severus actually said more than he wanted to, but he wanted to give Lucius hope for his daughters.

"Who is she and where did she come from?" Lucius was being nosy now but he was really interested in meeting her to learn more about how she coped in this world.

Severus gave him a pensive look and turned to Salazar who nodded his head. He sighed and then tried to gauge the other's reactions. "She is mine and Harry's great granddaughter and our Time Spirit."


	48. Information Gained and Lost?

Posted: 18 November 2009

Chapter 48: Information Gained and Lost?

The dead silence in the room would have been funny, if it had not been so serious. The four men sitting in the common room that had heard the news for the first time were not moving. They looked like a muggle picture in 3D, expressionless faces, and not even twitching. Severus wondered when they would come out of their stupor.

Harry, who was still somewhat emotional, slid into Severus' lap and placed his arms around his neck. Severus unconsciously held him while watching the quartet to see who would move first. Salazar was doing the same thing, occasionally taking a sip of tea as he watched.

Severus determined that the four men were in shock and needed something to help them. He slowly pulled out his wand so as not to disturb Harry and then remembered his conversation with the other founders about his powers. He quietly called for a house elf instead and asked the elf to serve the men some of his finest firewhiskey. The poor elf, after placing the drinks on the table, had to put each glass in a man's hand and bring it to their mouth. Remus was the first to sling the glass back and drink the liquor in one big gulp. The others soon followed and started to move and lose their statue like appearance.

"I'm sorry." Lucius said as he recovered from his stupor. "Did you just tell me that an underpowered witch is a Time Spirit?"

"Yes." Severus replied. He would have expounded on his answer, but they didn't seem to be able to comprehend more than the one syllable. He waited.

"And she is your great grand daughter?" Lucius spoke again.

"Yes."

"Do you have any idea how impossible this sounds?"

"Yes."

"Is there anything else you can say besides yes?" Lucius smirked.

"The Third Time Charm was used." Lucius dropped his glass. It was a good thing it was empty. Severus had the house elf (he had forgotten his name at the present) pour all the men another drink.

As the men were trying to compose themselves, Severus ask Harry if he wanted a drink, only to find out the young man had fallen asleep. His smile softly graced his lips before he hefted Harry up in his arms and gave a nod to Salazar before leaving the room. With a swish of his hand the bedcovers were pulled down and he placed his young lover onto the bed. He stayed there for a few minutes then slowly tried to pull the covers up over Harry so he could return back to the room with the other men. Harry wouldn't let go. He clung to Severus like a limpet and it was amazing he had that much strength while still sleeping.

Severus spied his cologne on the bedside table, Accio-ed it into his hand and quickly splashed a little on the pillow. Then pushing the pillow into Harry's arms, he extricated away from the young man, covered him and after a gentle kiss on his forehead returned to the common room.

The men were still sitting in a state of shock, but were starting to move a little.

"What is a Third Time Charm?" Snape asked Severus as he entered the room.

But Lucius answered for him. "It is ancient magic, mostly attributed to legend rather than anything else. It is said that only a Time Spirit, one who can manipulate the magic of Time, can use it. It is used when history has a great wrong and two smaller attempts have been unsuccessful in changing events. It is used only when a dramatic change in current events or past history needs to be made. It was rumored that Salazar Slytherin was also a Time Spirit and that is why he disappeared. There has never been any proof of it however and is believed to be merely myth. Some stories about it can be found in the oldest of children's fairytale books. I have never seen any other references in any non-fiction works."

Remus looked at the portrait of Salazar Slytherin and after seeing the stoic look on his face, declined to ask if the story was real. The man looked as if he may hex the first person to question him, even if he was only a portrait.

"So, what does that mean for us?" The former werewolf asked Severus instead.

"It means there are some events we can change and others we can't. It means that even though Regulus died in the other time lines, we could save him. There are some other events we can deter to save other people also. We came back sooner than originally planned because of an unexpected pregnancy. Essentially, however, we are here to try to restore the old pure blood ways. To stop the violence that created this war, to make sure squibs are seen differently, and to teach the harmonic way of keeping the magical world separate from the non-magic without the killing and torment that is now so prevalent."

Severus looked at the four men then reiterated something he had said before entering the training rooms. "Anyone who does not want to participate and would like to continue the way they have been is more than welcome to go back to their own lives. I will obliviate you so this information is kept secret. It is much to process and I will understand if you want to think about it first. Each of you had something very wrong happen in the other time line we came from. You and several others mostly die. We would like to avoid that but cannot make any promises. The only thing I can tell you is that we are here to succeed."

First Born came into the room at that time and slithered up to Severus hissing loudly. **"_Master, something is wrong, my Master is not sleeping well. Please come quickly, I tried to talk to him but something is wrong_."**

"Go, Severus, it sounds like Harry is having a nightmare. I will speak with the others a few more minutes before they retire for the night. We will see you in the morning." Salazar said to the Professor. But Severus was already halfway out of the room and hurrying to his lover's side.

Harry was thrashing from side to side and tangled up in the covers trying to get loose. His arms pulling and twisting in the fabric, with one arm nearly pinned to his side. Severus didn't know what he was dreaming about but he slowly got closer. The last time Harry had a nightmare was a few days ago and he hit Severus some kind of accidental shield before he woke up.

"Harry?" The older man said gently. "Harry, come on wake up for me."

"No, please, I'll be good. I won't do it again. I didn't lie." came the mumbling from the turbulent young man. "I didn't lie." He said again. "No, please, No."

Severus was sitting on the bed now, peeling the covers away to free Harry from his perceived confinement. He finally got close enough to pull Harry into his arms and whispered soothing, calm, nonsense into his ear while rubbing his back to quell the images he knew must be horrific.

"Wake up, my Harry. It's over and you never have to be there again." The young man started sobbing into the warm chest, but had stopped thrashing about and was settling down. Severus didn't know at what point he actually woke up from his nightmare, but he was glad to see him take a calming breath.

"Sev?" Harry asked hesitantly, "Please don't leave me."

"I am right here and I won't leave. Let me get ready for bed, and then you can curl up next to me. Alright?"

"Alright."

Severus went through his nighttime routine in record time and with only a pair of sleep pants on he slipped into the bed next to his fiancé. He straightened the covers and pulled them up to cover the both of them. Harry was clinging to him as if his life depended on it, but he didn't mind. As Harry moved around to get comfortable, Severus asked him, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No" came the muffled reply and soon the young man was back to sleep. Severus knew this was brought on by some of the lecture Salazar had given. Harry hearing how he was literally thrown into a world he was unprepared for and how everyone neglected to teach him was probably what brought this on. They would have to be more careful in the future.

In the next room…

Salazar Slytherin was getting a little exasperated at having to explain so many things to these people. Three of these men were Slytherin and he was shocked at how little they knew about the old ways. He should have expected this, but somehow he thought the purebloods would have at least some of this knowledge. Lucius Malfoy seemed to be the most knowledgeable, but he was also the eldest of the group. Some of the things Sal had told them should have been taught from the cradle.

The man in the portrait cleared his throat and asked, "How much of this information is new to you?"

Lucius, who had decided he was the spokesman for all things Slytherin answered. "All of it sir, none of us have been taught this. None of this information is contained in the Malfoy library either and some of those books go back several hundred years."

"Well then you have much to learn. Are there any questions you have so far about the information you heard this evening?"

"Is everything we heard true? I mean what Mr. Prince said. How can a Time Spirit be an underpowered witch?" Lucius asked the man.

"Everything Severs Prince said is true. The power to manipulate time is not a power Tom Riddle would have known to look for. It is separate from the magical core. It is 'an ability' like parsletongue. He couldn't take that gift away from her either. It is difficult to explain, but if you chose to remain acquainted with these people, then you can ask her yourself."

"If she is Mr. Prince's great grand daughter, then the Dark Lord must rule in that time. Is there still a war going on?"

"Tom Riddle was defeated several times. His followers would… take a piece of his spirit and fashion him a new body. So you could say the war was still on, but there have been… spaces… between battles. That is the best way I can explain it without going into a long story of details. Everything will be explained to you, but not tonight. It is too much information to go through in one day."

"How did we get chosen?" Remus asked. "And are we the only ones learning this?"

"You would need to ask Severs Prince how he chose you. I was not involved in the process. I can tell you that you are the first people I have spoken to about this."

"I know how I was chosen." Regulus said. "But I don't know if I can say anything about it. I was sworn to secrecy with a wizard's oath. Maybe tomorrow we can ask Harry and Severus about it."

"Why didn't he make us take the oath?" Lucius asked.

Salazar smirked and said, "You haven't left yet. Maybe he plans to obliviate you before you leave if you don't."

Lucius could see the reasoning behind it. Regulus let out a big yawn and said, "My mind is a whirlwind of questions and information. I think I am going to take some dreamless sleep and go to bed. It sounds like tomorrow will be another illuminating day and I need to be awake for it."

The others agreed and bid Salazar Slytherin good night before retiring to their self appointed bedrooms.

At two the next morning, or the middle of the same night depending on how you look at it….

Severus woke up to Harry moaning in his sleep. He already knew this was going to be one of the young man's 'bad nights' that happened every now and then.

He woke Harry up and tried to get him to talk about it, but the younger man didn't want to do anything but go back to sleep. Severus got up and procured some Dreamless Sleep potion from their bathroom as well as a pain potion for the headache he knew Harry was suffering from. After he administered the potions, Harry started to settle down to a much better and restful sleep. Severus slid back under the covers and pulled his lover close so he could get some sleep too.

The next morning, he left the bed before Harry woke up. The younger man would sleep late today; he always did after one of his bad nights.

When Severus entered the kitchen, the other men were already enjoying breakfast and discussing the previous day's surprises.

"Severus," Regulus said as he saw the older man first in the doorway. "We were wondering about some of the other things that came up yesterday. I know Remus and I took an oath not to reveal anything that happened, but since Malfoy and Snape are here, we didn't know if we could tell them anything about how we came to be here."

Severus looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, "We will have to go into that later. I will need to find out from these two men if they want to continue their relationship with us and get an oath not to reveal anything that has been discussed here. We have divulged more information that I really wanted to and some of 'reviewing our time line' has upset Harry. In fact he will not be joining us until later today."

"Is he going to be alright?" Remus asked.

"He will be fine; he just needs to sleep off the Dreamless Sleep potion."

After they finished breakfast in relative silence, the five men went back to the common room to where the portrait of Salazar Slytherin was still hanging. In the picture, they found Sal had transfigured a bed with bed curtains surrounding it. Severus tapped on the portrait frame with his wand to get his attention.

"Can't a person get some sleep around here." grumbled the voice of the great founder. Suddenly the bed was gone, the chair was back in place and Salazar was sitting regally staring at the group of men.

"Where's Harry?" he asked the leader of the group.

"Still sleeping, I had to give him a potion last night. He should be feeling better a little later this morning." Severus replied.

"Well then, I say we get to work." Salazar was ready to lecture these, 'the first few recruits' on the OLD pureblood ways and to see if they could actually grasp the concept. He knew that Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape would be the hardest to convince. They could not be relieved of the dark mark on their arms, yet, without retribution from What-his-face. They had not been 'saved' as the others had like Regulus with his life and removing the mark and Remus with the cure for the curse he had suffered through every month for many years.

It wasn't until Salazar got to the part about all magical creatures living in peace and respect for one another that Malfoy objected and looked like he was going to burst a blood vessel.

"You want us to WHAT!" he shouted to Salazar. Then he realized what he had done and composed himself into the Malfoy mask. "I will not allow myself or my family to be contaminated by filthy creatures and half-bloods. This is not the pure blood way I was raised with."

"That's right; you haven't and look where it's gotten you, a dwindling world and a war!" Salazar couldn't help but point out. "All magic has energy, the more energy you have concentrated in one area, the more you have access to. If you are busy dividing it up then it becomes scattered and you lose it to others. Even that mad man you call Lord knows that. He uses you all and your homes to collect the magic together so he can be more powerful. He drains it from you and from your properties. Your manor is a wealth of magical power from generations of magic being used. If you keep pushing out the other magical creatures, you are pushing out their free energy. Even that mad man is trying to get other dark creatures on his side. You can't deny that."

"He does it to help win the war, not to bond with them."

"Are you defending him? Are his actions more acceptable because he intends to deceive them into giving up their power and then destroying them? Do you think they are that moronic? Who said you had to 'bond' with them? They just want to live in peace… not in your home!" Merlin, Salazar thought, Malfoys have always had the most stubborn streak.

Severus had just about had enough of this attitude. It was too much like Voldemort's views and he had been hoping that after explaining everything, the aristocrat would know that this was better. Maybe it was not ideal in his opinion but it had to be better than following that sociopath.

By mid morning they had taken tea in the kitchen and Severus moved the portrait there also. Since they had stayed in the dining area after tea, their voices had carried to the bedroom where Harry was sleeping. That was what woke him up; they had gotten very loud at some point.

It was almost lunch time when Harry finally made an appearance. Severus and the others had been arguing one point or another and for the most part, everyone else seemed to be on board. Lucius was the most verbal about the idea of sharing his world with other magical creatures. Severus needed to make a decision soon on what he was going to do.

When Harry entered the kitchen dressed in blue jeans and a t-shirt he raised one eyebrow to Severus who was facing the doorway as he sat at the table.

"Harry!" Severus said as he rose out of his chair to stand by his lover's side. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, Sev," the young man answered, "but what is going on here?"

"Just a friendly discussion nothing to worry about, love." Severus didn't want to go into details at the moment, so he gave Harry a look that was meant to convey 'later'. The younger man seemed to understand because he nodded his head and entered the room.

"I don't suppose I could get something to eat? I apologize for missing breakfast, guys."

Remus answered for the group. "It's quite alright, Harry, we understand." He really did like the boy and he didn't blame him for not being there. It wasn't like he didn't know the information anyway. He wasn't sure why, but something in the wolf instincts wanted to claim Harry. Oh, not in a mate sort of way, but like an uncle would claim a nephew or a father would claim a son. The werewolf's cure did away with the transformations at the full moon, but some of the more basic nature remained.

Severus looked around the room and announced, "Why don't we all take a break and have an early lunch."

When lunch was over and the dishes disappeared, Severus addressed the men. "Gentlemen, if you don't mind, I would like to take a break so that I can spend some time with Harry to bring him up to date. Please feel free to peruse the book shelf or play some chess. If you can't find what you need, call for the elf and he will get it for you." The men all nodded their heads and made way to the common room while Harry and Severus turned in the opposite direction to go back to their bedroom suite.

As Severus and Harry entered their room, Severus took out his wand and warded the door and threw a silencing spell around them. He knew the other men would probably think he and Harry were having more fun than anything else. He was not opposed to that either, but he needed to discuss Lucius Malfoy's views with his partner.

Before Severus could get his thoughts together, Harry had already started talking. "Sev, I was awake for over an hour before I made an appearance. I know what most of the men said and I believe we will have to take part of Malfoy's memory away and let him think about this for awhile. What would happen if we only obliviate everything after the Occlumency lessons?"

"You mean, leave his memories of us until we started talking about being from the future? I don't know that the others won't reveal something later. I also don't know why he is having such a hard time with this. It's not like we are asking him to live with other magical creatures." Severus shook his head in confusion. "I didn't really want to resort to this. I don't want to meddle in anyone's mind too much. If I lost control of the power, he could be a mindless husk of a person."

"How about this," Harry interrupted, "you go back and say you want to check everyone's shields. Then you find the memories and build a wall around them. That way you aren't obliviating, you are blocking. Can that be done?"

Sometimes Severus wondered how he ever thought Harry was just like all the other dunderheads he had to teach. "Now, that could work. That way if I use too much power, I am not trying to remove anything. A block can be broken by me at anytime."

"What about the others?" the young Gryffindor asked. "Do you think they are going to accept this? What about the other you?"

"I believe he will accept this. I didn't join the Dark Lord for blood supremacy, I joined to get respect and to earn my mastery while I was with him. I was treated different than the others though. He liked to Crucio me more often. By the time I was Snape's age, I was already trying to find a way out. I think he will take it."

"I'm so sorry Sev." Harry said just before he moved to put his arms around the man. Harry had been on the receiving end of that particular curse and knew it wasn't nice.

"Don't worry," the older man answered. "It was a long time ago.

"I still want to be able to help the Malfoy twins. I can't imagine what he is going through with those problems." Harry knew his own child would not have to suffer that kind of problem, but he still felt bad for the others. The children were innocent.

"I think we can work that in. What if we block Malfoy's memories, then talk to the others one on one. After we can all go to the pool, and maybe we can get Malfoy to owl Narcissa to come with the twins and I will see if Doc is available. Becca can get to meet everyone and we can see what happens from there. If nothing else, we can remove the mark from Narcissa. Voldemort won't miss her and the Malfoys could always say she is having problems with the pregnancy and can't come to meetings. Voldemort didn't often call them anyway. There are other pregnant women that may want the mark removed. She can talk to the other women about it. The others don't want their children to be in the same situation as the twins."

"You mean we could win her over first and then let Lucius have another chance?" Harry looked thoughtful for a minute then smiled. "The muggles have an expression 'Behind every great man is a great woman'. I wonder how much influence Narcissa has on Lucius."

"I guess we will find out. Let's get out there and speak with the others."


	49. Who Has The Real Power?

Posted: 20: November 2009

Chapter 49: Who Has The Real Power?

It was an interesting afternoon. Harry and Severus pulled the four men into private meetings. Harry had Remus and Regulus while Severus had his younger self and Lucius. They each explained what was going on and got a promise from the men to stay with this new group that wanted to make a better world for all, not just themselves. They understood what was going on and although they didn't know half of what was to come, they could see the direction would have a much better outcome. Remus wondered how they were going to influence the Ministry, as they were the ones that kept passing the Magical Creature Laws that were so unfair.

The only thing he was told is that they had a plan. It wasn't to be revealed yet but would take a few years before they started that phase of the changes.

"What are you doing, in the meantime?" Remus asked Harry.

"Building a business, and putting the other magical creatures in a better position without the Ministry. Our businesses are mostly muggle registered and kept in muggle areas, but you already know this. It keeps the ministry from interfering as they have no jurisdiction. We use other magical creatures as much as possible and everyone pulls together to build their world together. It will take generations to change everything, but we have to start somewhere." Harry smiled as Remus was nodding in agreement. It was easy to explain this to Remus as he was already immersed in it from the side of the werewolves. He just hadn't known that other creatures were being treated the same way.

"Why did you choose me Harry? It was something I ask Slytherin and he couldn't answer it."

"Remus, believe it or not, you're other counterpart taught me my patronus when I was thirteen." He watched the shocked look on the man's face. "I won't go into the whole story, but for some reason dementors kept attacking me and you taught me how to keep them at bay."

"Are you talking about being able to produce a full _corporeal_ patronus at the age of thirteen?"

"Yep, that would be me." Harry smiled and shrugged, he wasn't showing off to this man, he just wanted him to understand what the man meant to him.

"Harry, how did I teach you that, I can barely do one myself?"

"I don't know when you learned it, you didn't tell me. I only know that it was in my timeline so you were about twenty years older than me and teaching DADA. I imagine you learned a lot after leaving Hogwarts with a war going on."

"Are you telling me I was teaching at Hogwarts? Did they have the cure in that time line too?"

"Yes, you were teaching at Hogwarts and no the cure was not available yet."

"The headmaster must be barmy, hiring a werewolf to teach children."

"He was 'barmy' a long time before that. But that story is for another time."

Harry and Remus continued their conversation for a half hour longer then Harry checked his Occlumency shields and Regulus was called into speak with the youngest team member.

Of course when Reg asked the same question as Remus had, "Why did you choose me?" Harry's answer was different.

"You were the first to find out about the... objects... that were being made. You were the first to risk your life to try and destroy them. You were one of the first to realize how depraved that man had actually gotten. We need someone with those instincts. In my timeline Sirius was my Godfather but you both died. I thought I could honor him and save his brother."

"You know, Sirius does not really care about me or the family. He left us a few years ago."

"I know," Harry replied calmly. "But you don't serve a mad man anymore. Maybe it's time to bring the family together just as we are going to bring the magical world together. It won't be without an enormous amount of hard work, but it will be worth it. We have an idea on how to get some of the others on board with the changes we want to make. The only thing I need to know is, are you with us?"

"You don't need to ask that Harry. I was with you when you kept me from drowning in a lake of inferi."

"I am thinking that maybe your mother would want to come for a visit. It is time."

"I would love to see my mother. When can we invite her?"

"Soon, let me clear it with Severus first."

As before with Remus, Harry spoke with Regulus for a while longer and as before he explained about blocking some of Malfoy's memory to keep their secrets safe. Strangely enough, both young men believed that it was for the best. They needed to gain Malfoy's trust more before he would accept what they were trying to do. Voldemort wanted other magical creatures too, and promised them a change in the laws, but he wasn't sincere and most of them knew that. He just wanted them to help fight and let them die on the front line. Severus, Harry and the others wanted to keep them out of the war altogether. It was what separated the two groups the most.

Harry had an idea. He wanted to bring Lady Black here at the same time as Narcissa Malfoy. Maybe even have Lady Black speak with Salazar's portrait. If she knew what they were trying to do, he might be able to get her out of the house and start socializing again. She was Narcissa's aunt and perhaps they could start with a few tea parties with a few of the other marked pureblood ladies. This would leave the men out of the plans and he felt that as soon as they heard what was happening to the children they would want to help.

Back in another room...

Severus was not having as much luck as Harry. Malfoy was going to be a problem. He had already known that so he started with his younger counterpart first.

"Mr. Snape, please have a seat." the older man said. He wasn't sure how to approach his younger self and it came to him that this could get awkward.

"Don't you feel strange calling me Mr. Snape?" the younger man smirked. "I am not sure what I should be calling you either. I never expected to meet myself from...what 17 years in the future? It is a little surreal."

"Yes it is, but let's make the best of it. First I want to tell you that there is a Gringotts account for you. You just need to go to the bank and claim it."

"I don't need anything from you." Snape snarled at the older man. He didn't like anyone offering him charity.

"I know what you need and don't. This account is in payment of your contribution to the werewolf's cure. We did eventually modify it and we are using it at Prince Conglomerate. We can't have too much publicity yet to give you credit, but we can pay you for your part. I know the last two years you have been working on it."

"I don't understand."

"Well, my future counterpart sent the formula with his great grand daughter, so I am sharing the profits with my younger self."

Snape was of the opinion he didn't need help from anyone, but everything these people said was so out of the norm that although he wanted to turn down the vault, it was not coming from anyone but himself. How did you refuse that? As he sat and contemplated this for a minute he looked at the older man in front of him. The more time they spend together, the more the similarities were evident. But there were a lot of differences too. The way he treated his young fiancé was quite out of character. He wondered why and if they would eventually share that information also.

"I thought you were giving it away." The younger man pointed out. "You can't have profits if you were not charging for the product."

"We don't exactly give it away. It is given with the understanding that the werewolves become productive citizens of our world or the muggle world if they were muggle. They start businesses and pay back the company. If they don't they are educated and get jobs, either with our company or somewhere else. I know there has not been much of that yet, we are just getting started. But I don't see why we can't invest in the cure by paying for the origination of it. It is what Becca calls a 'tax write off'."

"I will go tomorrow and speak with someone at Gringotts."

"Good. Now on to other business..." It took the two men about two hours to go over everything and answer questions about what was going on. Severus knew he could trust this man more than the others because he always had a natural ability in Occlumency and Legilimency. His secrets would be safe.

Snape agreed that he would try to convince the Dar... What's-his-name... to agree for him to study to be a Potions Master with Prince Conglomerate. They would pay all the expenses and he would have access to rare ingredients that even the Dark... Whos-its-whats-it... couldn't possibly get as easily. It could be presented as spying on the people that originated the book and get information on the others. This would give him a reason to not respond when called, or not be called in the first place. Severus was afraid to remove the mark right now as Snape was too much in the limelight with some other up and coming Death Eaters. He didn't want him to become a target before they were closer to the mad man's demise. He also didn't want his younger self to become a spy. He wanted him out of there and getting trained and the pharmaceutical company seemed the best cover. It would take anyone else at least two years to get a certification but Severus knew the younger man would do it in one. Of course there was no reason Voldemort needed to know that.

Severus asked Snape about the Death Eater women and he confirmed that they were rarely ever called. The ones that were known to be pregnant were never called. That came about when he called two women, Parkinson and Greengrass, with the others; they had morning sickness and threw up all over the floor of his throne room. He never did that again. Severus remembered something like that happening in his time too and gave a little laugh at the memory.

It was now time to speak with Lucius. This was not going to be easy but it had to be done.

As the aristocrat came into the room for his personal meeting, Severus could see he was a little shaky in his stance. He wondered what the man thought he would do to him. "Mr. Prince," the young Lord greeted him. "I assume we are here so you can extract a vow out of me not to reveal your secrets to anyone else?"

Severus wasn't fooled by the man's austere manner. He had spent too much time with this man in the other time line. Severus knew the man was worried he might be obliviated.

"It is true that we would rather no one else know about us or why we are here. Not yet anyway. However I am here to check your Occlumency shields so that I can be assured that you can keep that promise. We still have time for shield strengthening before you leave if we need to. Some of the others could benefit from it also."

Severus felt terrible about not being completely honest with his old friend. But then he thought that this was not really his friend and he was only doing what must be done for the safety of his family. He quickly entered Lucius' mind and walled up the memories of the Time Spirit discussion and the other topics that had become a problem. He agreed with Harry that they were going to have to hide some things for now, not only to keep the Prince family safe, but the Malfoy family as well. He could see that Lucius was starting to feel some pain from the intrusion and finished what he had to do. He offered the younger man a headache potion to relieve his pain which the man gratefully accepted.

All six men spent several more days in the time displacement room working on contracts, training schedules for the younger men and more Occlumency studies. While they were there Severus called Seamstress Sissy one more time.

"Yes Master Prince. What may I do for you today?" the little elf bowed before the man.

"We would like to have four outer garments made from the basilisk skins for these men. How much of the skins do we still have?"

"Master Prince, when you came, I was brought hundreds of the skins. I have lots and lots I can make into clothes. We are also finding a way to make some protective vests with the acromantula shells but we don't have that ready to try yet"

Well, they were certainly busy little beavers, Severus thought. He remembered reading that expression somewhere in a muggle story book. "Good Sissy, if you could make the men their outer cloaks and also we will be having visitors later that will need women's cloaks. You can measure them later after they arrive."

"Yes Master Prince, sir. Seamstress Sissy will get right on it, but it will take a few days. The basilisk skin is resistant to the sewing spells and needs to be done by hand."

"That's alright Seamstress Sissy; the next couple of weeks will be fine. We appreciate your help during your holidays."

The elf bowed slightly and popped out of the room to do her Master's bidding. She didn't really know why they thought she needed a holiday. She was used to working all the time without any time off. At least she did when she was taking orders from the Headmaster. But she liked these Masters much better. They were kind and were trying to really do some good, so she would do her best to complete her task as fast as possible.

Fortunately, Lucius didn't pick up on the titles, he more or less ignored the elves altogether. Remus and Regulus smirked and had a private joke about Lucius and his oblivious ways to other creatures. Snape, however, did notice the difference in how the elves were treated and how they responded. It was quite something to see. The elves that he had seen here were more refined and educated if their speech was any indication.

"Lucius, we are half way through our last day from the outside and I would like to know if you would want to ask Narcissa to join us at the pool. We can have Doc look at the twins if you like to see what can be done about their power levels. It wouldn't hurt and the sooner treatment is done the better. You can officially meet Becca and Narcissa could have a little discussion about raising an underpowered witch."

"It's the middle of winter, won't that be a little cold?" Lucius couldn't imagine what they were talking about.

"It's an indoor pool. I wouldn't suggest a cold winter swim. The pool is heated."

"I think that would be a wonderful idea. She has been so hesitant to leave the house, but if it were a relaxing atmosphere, she might feel better. She feels so guilty that the twins have no visible power. You know, usually you can get a reading on their power when they are a few weeks old, even if their accidental magic doesn't show up for a few years later." Lucius accepted the invitation.

Severus then turned to Regulus and asked, "Reg, Harry tells me that you would like to see Lady Black. If it is alright, we could invite her as well for a poolside lunch. She will probably not swim, but I am sure she would like to visit with the family members here."

Regulus also graciously accepted the invitation. Both men then sent an owl. Along with the parchment note was a portkey that would take them straight to the pool room. It was set to bring them at noon for lunch.

The next few hours were spent on the report that Snape and Malfoy needed to give to Voldemort in two days. They would give him just enough information to keep him happy, without divulging too much of their current plans. It obviously was not secret that they had information; he just needed some background to satisfy his need to know.

After all the arrangements were made and Severus had asked Becca to see if Doc was available to look at the twins, it was time for the oath that nothing would be revealed outside the walls of the training room other than what had been discussed. All four men took the oath, only one had his memories modified and blocked to keep the peace.

They completed their meeting about the time Severus calculated it would be almost noon on December 31, 1979. It was hard to believe they were leaving the room before the time they entered. Using a time turner they weren't to be seen, but Severus thought since they would be in the pool area they would be sectioned off enough.

The men had opted to dress in casual pants and a turtleneck jumper. Severus knew of several scars his younger self had so he made a mental note to give him a jar of the salve that Harry and Becca had made. After seeing the success Harry had, he had used it and was amazed at how fast the scars from his abusive father disappeared.

Since this was a meeting of mostly Slytherins, the portrait frame of Salazar was also removed from the wall of the training room just before they left. As Severus and Harry led them though the corridors, to the lift, used the recognition software to open doors, Snape and Malfoy kept their faces stoic and blank. Severus knew though they had to be in as much shock as he was when he first arrived. He knew Snape would know what an lift and computer was; he was also just as sure that Malfoy did not. He gave Harry a look and they smirked together. It was always interesting to see the reaction of others faced with the muggle technology.

When they entered the pool room, the picture of Salazar was hung on the wall. They set up the luncheon table on the same wall with painted palm trees. The trees appeared to be gently blowing in the wind so it looked like a real outside setting.

Lucius looked around for the first time and tried to understand where they were. He knew he felt like he was going down in the moving box. But this looked like he was outside, although he knew they couldn't be unless he had left the county for the tropics. The pool was an indoor pool and he saw to his left what he assumed to be changing rooms.

When Narcissa appeared in the room, she was the epitome of Lady Malfoy in splendid robes of emerald green with an embroidered design on the trim. She was carrying one twin girl in her arms and the nanny elf had the other. The twins were crying and the woman and her elf were trying to calm them. At the same time Lady Walburga Black appeared and heard the children. She was about to make a comment when she recognized her niece Narcissa trying to shush the babies.

"Aunt Walburga!" Narcissa cried in surprise as she caught sight of the regal woman standing in the room. "I didn't know you would be here."

"Actually I, too, am pleasantly surprised to see you. Regulus is here and invited me for lunch. It will be nice to see some of the family, we do not keep in touch often enough. I assume these are my great nieces? I haven't seen them since they were born. They have your coloring, dear. Is Lucius going to join us also?"

"Right behind you, Aunt Walburga, it is nice to see you again. You are looking lovelier than ever." Lucius greeted his wife's aunt. He then took her hand and kissed the back of it.

Becca came up to them, dressed in her casual robes. She greeted them with a slight bow and said, "It is good to meet you Lady Black and Lady Malfoy. My name is Rebecca Prince. Welcome to Prince Stronghold Manor.

Just at that time, Regulus entered the room and exclaimed, "Mother! It was so good of you to accept the invitation to come." He took the woman's hand and kissed it then said, "It is most agreeable to be in your presence. I trust you have been well."

"It does a Mother good to see her son. It would be better if she saw him more often." She said in her austere manner, it was Walburga's way of scolding him for not being around to see her sooner.

The babies were still fussing and Becca asked Narcissa if she could hold one. When Narcissa looked to her husband, he nodded his assent and she relinquished the babe in her arms.

"They fuss most when they are apart." she said. "Sometimes we have to hold them together to get them to quiet down."

Becca looked at her in surprise and asked, "Are they identical twins?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"They are bonded as twins. It doesn't usually happen in fraternal twins. At least not that close that they need to be together all the time." Becca surmised. "I have been reading a book about babies and bonding. I am two months pregnant."

"Oh, that is nice, dear. I am almost four months pregnant. This time it is a boy."

"How old are the twins?" Harry asked.

"They will be six months next week. Their names are Licinda and Narcia or Lissy and Nissy."

Becca was gently jostling the baby up and down to try to quiet her. The baby was still fussing when she quietly started to sing a lullaby.

"You can fly in the sky; you can swim in the sea

You can keep your memories close, so no one can see

You are master of your own heart, and my dear

Your memories are yours to keep ever near

It is time for you to sleep, and dream of today

Place your memories out of sight far away

Hide them in a box or into a book

Hide them where no one can ever look

You can fly in the sky; you can swim in the sea

You can keep your memories close, so no one can see

Hide them in a cave or under a rock

Keep your mind closed like putting on a sock

It is time for you to sleep, and dream of today

Place you memories out of sight far away

In your safe place your memories will be

Your dreams are safe so no one can ever see."

"I think Lissy is asleep now, we have a cradle next to the luncheon table where we can let her sleep." Becca looked up to the others as she murmured softly so as not to wake the children. She saw eight adults, six men and two women staring at her in shock. Harry was the first one to speak.


	50. The Formidable Women

Posted: 22 November 2009

Chapter 50: The Formidable Women

"Are you teaching her Occlumency?" His look of utter amazement was unmistakable.

"It's a lullaby my Grandfather taught me before he died. He said his Father was considered one of the best Occlumans around. His Dad and Father found a way to make a game of it as he was growing up. By the time he entered school, he was very good at it."

"Where did the song come from?" Severus asked, he had never heard it before.

"My Grandfather said his Dad made it up to help his Father teach it." Becca responded with a smirk.

Narcissa wanted to know if Becca could write down the words but Becca turned to Regulus and asked, "Can you get one of the elves to get a copy of the children's books from the publishing company? The book of lullabies has this one in there as well as others."

"Assistant Mimsy!" Regulus called in a hushed urgency for his personal assistant from the publishing house. Now that the babies were sleeping, he didn't want to wake them. A little elf in royal blue overalls with the Prince Conglomerate crest blazoned across the front bib and on the little blue hat that sat on her head popped in immediately.

"Yes, Master Regulus. What may I do for you?" The elf gave a half bow as she spoke then awaited her instructions.

"Can you bring me two copies of all the children's books?" He asked the elf politely.

"Of course, Master Regulus. Mimsy will be right back." The little elf then popped out and a few minutes later popped back in carrying several children's books in duplicate. "Is there anything else I may do for you, sir?"

"That will be all Mimsy, thank you."

Now Narcissa was not as oblivious as her husband and noticed the difference in the elf from her own. Walburga Black was just as observant as her niece and raised an eyebrow at her son.

"What was that?" she asked Regulus.

"That was my personal assistant at the publishing house. She sees to the things in my office."

"Do all the elves behave like that around here?" the older woman wanted to know.

"As far as I know. They all have titles and all answer in the same manner. They are very efficient and help in the businesses owned by Prince Conglomerate." Regulus had forgotten about how strange it was at first to see how the elves were treated here and to see them respond.

"Let's eat lunch Mother, while we visit awhile." he said to change the subject.

As they all sat down and partook of the wonderful lunch of tropical fruits and cheeses and sandwiches, Doc arrived with Shashi. Harry stiffened slightly at the sight of the Light Elf, not knowing how Malfoy would take him assisting Doc to look at his twins.

After explaining things to Narcissa, who was ecstatic to find out that this was not exactly a genetic problem, Doc looked at the twins and asked if he could get a reading from their magical core. He showed the parents what spell he would use and used it on Becca first so they could see what a weak core looked like, and then used it on Harry to see what a strong core looked like. This way the parents would know he would not harm their children. Both children showed a very weak and drained core, but the strange thing was that when placed together the cores were stronger than when the babies were separated. Doc presumed this was why it was so hard to separate them.

Using tines with different tones, he showed how their cores responded to the musical notes and explained the treatment they could use to strengthen their magical cores. He theorized that they could be at least underpowered if not just have average strength if treatment was started right away. The reason Becca was not stronger was the treatment was found too late and although she could use magic, she also had learned to compensate for the lack of power.

It was Walburga Black, however, that was the most amazed and had something to say.

"If we had known about this years ago, it could have changed so many lives. I, too, believed in the ideals of the Dark Lord, but never joined when I found out what his methods were. I wish I had found this out before my son joined that horrible man."

Severus was the one who eased her mind with, "We have all been in that situation. That is why we are doing what we can now, before it is too late." He gave the older woman a smile and asked her if she would like more tea. "And don't worry about Regulus; he is not a part of them anymore."

"If it would be agreeable, I would like to have Becca over for tea and some of the other ladies will be invited." She turned to address her niece, "Narcissa, how do you feel about getting this message out. Do you think we can do this without HIM knowing?"

"I know he doesn't call on the women that are pregnant." She smirked at that. "I feel that these are the ones in the most danger. We don't want what happened to the twins to happen to any more of our children. Right now, I feel as if I could take him on all by myself and win. How dare he do this to my children?" Narcissa showed the crack in her demeanor as she verbalized her anger at what he had done to the twins.

"I don't think that is a good idea, dear." Lucius interjected.

"I don't care if it's a good idea. It is the right idea. How many others have the same problem and no hope? We have to keep our world hidden from muggles and I believe that is what these people want to do?" She ended in a question and a raised brow to Harry, Severus and Becca. All three nodded, but it was Severus that added to the statement.

"We also want to make our world stronger. Our numbers are decreasing with every year, yet we live longer than the muggles and we have children. We need to increase our numbers by keeping our children in this world no matter how hard it is."

He watched as Lucius kept his tongue and stayed silent after Narcissa rebuked him for butting in. He gave Harry a knowing look and you could see amusement in both their eyes if you looked close enough.

Narcissa then spoke with Doc. "Is there anything else we could be doing at home to help them?"

Doc, who could see the fierce protection in the woman's manner, told her, "We can try something that hasn't been done before. At least I haven't done it before. It is a theory that we have come up with to increase the core in underpowered wizardkind children."

"Will it hurt the children? I don't want anything else to happen to them." Narcissa's voice was full of concern and worry.

"Actually, Shashi, is a Light Elf and we believe that if he uses some Elvin magic and connects to the core we can insert some fairy dust into the core and it will regenerate faster. We haven't tried it because it doesn't work in anyone after puberty. It is a new theory for wizardkind but we do know that it works in Elvin children."

"Fairy dust is not toxic to wizards, but I would like you to explain the procedure."

So Doc explained they would use an ancient Elvin spell to connect with the core and sprinkle light fairy dust into the core. The light dust is what the fairies used to make magic twinkle lights and was really harmless, but it would put the magic light in the core to give it power to regenerate. Lucius, on the other hand didn't look happy about it. In fact he started to object twice before Narcissa said if it would help her children, or even might help, she was willing to try.

Then her Aunt Walburga agreed most vehemently and Lucius was silenced once again.

It seemed that if you wanted to help the purebloods be more powerful and help the children, you only needed to speak with Walburga Black. Harry was wondering why they hadn't thought about this before. The woman was formidable and could hold her own in any argument. Of course, he thought, it didn't hurt that they had saved the life of her own child.

As Lissy was the first one to try this on, Doc did the spell to view her magical core, then Shashi carefully added to the spell to open it up and drop a few sprinkles of fairy dust into the magical opening. Lissy started to giggle in her sleep and settled down with a smile on her face. The procedure took about fifteen minutes to complete and when the core started to glow brighter, everyone sighed in relief. Next, Nissy went through the same thing. Her core had actually been all but non existent except when laying right next to her sister, so Shashi placed a few extra dust particles into the magical opening. Nissy then giggled like her sister and settled down into a more peaceful sleep.

Harry thought the procedure was awesome to watch. The spell Doc did was the same one to look at the magical core. The one Shashi did, actually attached to Doc's spell and caused an opening and then a small whirlwind like tunnel going all the way to the core. As he dropped the particles, one at a time, of fairy dust, each particle was lit and you could see the slow descent until it connected with the core then was absorbed into the center. After the absorption, the core started to glow white like the light of the dust. He would then drop another dust particle. It was dangerous to add too many at one time and you didn't want to add too much either as the magic could be too strong for the baby to handle. When he was finished, he cancelled the spell to close the opening and then Doc cancelled the spell to see the core.

"We don't know how long it will last, but we believe it will be permanent. I would suggest you bring them to the medical center in a few weeks. Or if you are feeling poorly, owl the center and I will come to you. I know it can be hard traveling when pregnant." Doc said this as he handed her a business card. He was hoping to check the twins several times over the next few months to make sure the adjustments were permanent.

Narcissa nodded her understanding and put the card in her pocket to use later. Lucius watched her and said nothing, but he was still trying to understand why she would allow other creatures to use spells on the twins. Of course it wasn't too bad, he allowed, the elf was at least a healer.

The group spent the remainder of the day together getting to know each other. Narcissa was especially interested in getting the manor renovated to include the new mini-floo. It would be so much easier to call her friends without getting on the floor.

As they said goodbye that evening, Becca was invited to come for tea the next week after Harry and Severus started their training. She was going to go and join the women in a lighthearted conversation and possibly let them know that she could remove their marks. At least she would be around other females instead of being surrounded by men all the time.

They spent the remainder of the afternoon conversing with everyone else, including Salazar Slytherin. Lady Black was most impressed with the founder as were the others. Those that came from his house at Hogwarts were gathered around him quite much that afternoon, listening to the pureblood ways. Salazar carefully steered away from the subject of other creatures and merging them into today's magical world. He didn't want to get Lucius riled up again.

That evening, after everyone else left, Regulus took his mother to see the publishing company and then flooed her home. Remus said he needed to see some werewolf contacts about the next group to receive the cure potion. Doc and Shashi went their separate ways, and Harry, Becca and Severus were once again left alone. They decided to go out as well.

The trio went into London to see a spectacular fireworks display in the muggle section of town at midnight. Severus and Harry shared the most romantic kiss, and then they both turned and kissed Becca's cheeks. It was a tradition on New Years to kiss the one you were going to stay with for the year. Becca thought it was sweet of them to include her. Then they walked around for about half an hour before Becca started to get cold.

"Guys, I love your wanting to show me London, but we need to cut this short. I don't want to get chilled and it's getting colder out here." Becca said to her two escorts."

Severus and Harry both agreed, they too were getting cold, and even though they had used a few warming spells, it was also getting late and exhaustion was setting in. So they found an abandoned alley and portkeyed home. When they landed, Becca was dizzy and only kept from falling by Severus grabbing her shirt, much like he always grabbed Harry's. He wondered what it was about these two that they couldn't land on their feet.

Becca thank him for catching her and sat down to take a few deep breaths. Severus watched her and then noticed that her color was very pale.

"Becca, are you feeling alright?" Severus asked.

"Just dizzy and a little nauseous... I will be fine. It's just been a long day." Severus helped Becca to bed and came back into the sitting room to retrieve Harry. He was hoping for another repeat performance from the younger man. They had not been alone for quite some time with all the others living so close. It had definitely put a damper on their sex life and Severus was anxious to get Harry to himself again. He was celebrating New Years after all.

Harry was sitting on a chair, watching The Seven in front of the fire in the fireplace. He was just staring off into space as Severus walked into the room.

"Is everything alright?" he asked Harry.

"Yeah, fine Sev… I was just wondering why we didn't get the women involved in this before. I don't even think Voldemort would be able to go up against Lady Black. That woman is just scary." Severus chuckled at his mate. He was right, Walburga Black was quite formidable. The way she shut Lucius Malfoy from making comments about a different creature performing spells on his girls was priceless. It wasn't often you would find the man at a loss for words.

"Well, I can't say I would go up against her, but remember Voldemort isn't sane, so he might anyway."

"Yeah, I can just see it now, Voldemort in the throne room with Walburga Black telling him to sit up straight and pay attention." Harry gave a tired laugh at his musings and then commented to Severus, "Are you ready to retire for the night?"

Severus didn't answer but held out his hand in response to Harry's question. He pulled the young man to their bedroom hoping that Harry wasn't too tired for a little lovemaking.

At Malfoy Manor,

As soon as the nanny elf took the babies to their room, Lucius turned to his wife in a fit of pique and said, "Why did you allow a Light Elf to perform healing magic on our daughters. Do I need to remind you we are DARK WIZARDS?" Lucius was not just angry he was getting livid the more he thought about it. "This could change the way they do magic. This could change our family. They performed light magic on them. A Light Elf with fairy light dust. MORE LIGHT magic on MY children. How could you?"

He never saw the spell coming...

He was sitting in a chair, a silencing spell had been placed on his mouth and the bands that held him in place were fairly tight. He was revived but couldn't move. He hated when Narcissa did that to him. It had been over two months, in his view, since he had seen his wife. That was how long he had been in that time room and he had hoped to have a nice evening with his wife, now it was not looking so well.

"Good, you are awake." Narcissa said in a sickly sweet tone. He knew that tone; it was the one she used before a shouting lecture. He knew when he heard that tone, it did not bode well for him. "Now, Lucius dear," Oh no, Lucius thought here it comes. "YOU KNOW THE CHILDREN NEEDED HELP. I will not allow you to talk to me like that. I knew I could trust them as soon as I saw Regulus there. Aunt Walburga agreed with me and she would not have been there if she suspected anything. I CAN NOT BELIEVE you are taking this attitude with me!"

Narcissa was huffing with from exerting the energy it was taking to calm down. "They had Salazar Slytherin's portrait and he didn't look like he was opposed to being there either. You heard what he told us. Light and dark magic are to work in tandem, one protecting and using energy to help the other. HE didn't have a problem with the procedure so I fail to see why you should."

The woman glared at her husband for a few minutes. "I would do anything for my children. If it means allowing them to use light magic instead of NO MAGIC then so be it. Their heritage, you were spouting about, is magical first and foremost. I do not want my children to be squibs because of a mistake you and I made trusting and believing in a DERANGED LUNATIC!

She sighed and finally started to calm down now that she had that off her chest. "Don't think I don't know you used a time turner also. I noticed Severus Snape and he actually looked healthy and had a few added pounds on him. I don't know how far back you guys went, but just this morning the man looked so gaunt and stressed a puff of wind would blow him away."

Lucius just nodded as he was still silenced by his wife. She was sitting in the chair, legs tucked neatly to the side with her ankles crossed. She had her arms crossed over her chest and if looks could kill, Lucius would be in cinders by now.

"You men were dressed like muggles, but Severus looked good in the clothes. I also noticed that Regulus does not have the dark mark. So someone must have removed it. I won't ask you to reveal any secrets because I am sure you had to take some sort of oath. But I will tell you this, if these people are going to help us as they did today, and have done for Reg, then I am not going to turn down their help either. MY children are too important. You and I have studied dark magic from the cradle and neither one of us has seen or heard of a spell to help increase the magic of an underpowered child or a squib like we saw today."

Narcissa paused in her declarations to make sure Lucius was paying attention. "These people are the only ones I have ever met that do not fear the Dark Lord. They may be foolish, but I get the impression they know exactly what they are dealing with.

The same evening at Black Manor…

Walburga Black was sitting in her dining room with her son Regulus. They had a pleasant time walking through the publications department and Reg had taken several books that his mother thought she would like to read. It was not how a barely legal aged wizard would usually spend his New Years Eve. But it was pleasant and he was still wanted by the Death Eaters for leaving them, so it was safer to lay low for now.

"Mother," he started to say, "how do you feel about what you learned today?"

"My son," she smiled gently at the young man in front of her. "Please come with me, I want to show you something."

They made their way to the library with mother leading her son. She started to explain on her way up the stairs, "Years ago, your father and I discovered something in the library of this house. How it came to be here, no one knows. But we kept it hidden for the information it contained."

Regulus was a little puzzled at what his mother was saying. There was nothing hidden in the library, he and Sirius had been all over the place as children and had discovered all there was to find years ago.

His mother stood in front of a set of book shelves and pointed her wand at them. With a whispered spell that he didn't quite catch, the shelves began to move. As if it was on rollers two sections of bookshelves shifted forward then shifted to the side to reveal another room.

Regulus was stunned. He had never seen this before.

"In this small room," it was no more than two meters deep, more like a big closet really, "you will find books dating back over seven hundred years. These are the Black journals. Each of your ancestors has contributed to this collection. Some of them were seers others were in lucrative professions and others were teachers and businessmen. All their secrets, successes and failures can be found in this room."

"Why did Sirius and I never find this?" Regulus asked in wonder.

"I only know that it revealed itself when you father and I were speaking about the rise of the Dark Lord. I, sort of, made a comment about the house letting us talk to the ancestors of your father and this room appeared."

"Mother, there must be thousands of journals in here. Have you read any of them?"

"You father and I read many of them. Some of them were about a new power rising that would bring the magical world together again. Some of them were about the same information you have in these new books about squibs not leaving the magical world as it was a risk to us. Of course when they wrote it, it was in angst about how others didn't believe them."

"Why are you showing this to me now?"

"This is your legacy, your heritage. It is yours and Sirius'; if you can ever get him to accept his family responsibilities. I believe this is the information you seek in whether or not to join your group. As soon as I read the book you sent me I suspected that these were the people that were foretold. When I was portkeyed in and met them I knew I was correct."

"How do we get Sirius to see this? I don't even see him anymore, but Remus saw him for Christmas. I am afraid he will be much harder to convince." Regulus informed her.

Walburga smiled in a sly, knowing manner. "I believe that when the time is right, your people will have a plan. I believe they are closer to this family then they let on."

"So you do not oppose my being involved with this group?"

"Not only do I approve, I believe it is time to get the women involved. I have stayed out of this skirmish up to this point. I was waiting for a sign, something to tell me what the correct approach was. After you joined the Dark Lord, I realized his methods were too brutish and common. He pillages and maims and tortures like common criminals. This has never been the pureblood way. Albus Dumbledore is the light wizard Lord, if you want to call him that, but he manipulates and sacrifices without remorse. This may be the pureblood way but he is not bringing this world together, he is only taking it apart for his followers and himself."

"In the oldest of these journals there are references to magic working together and bringing our world **together** in the true ways of old. If it is to help protect the children, we should start spreading the word." She said confidently to her son. She knew she had made mistakes with Sirius, but he had turned his back on his heritage and when the Dark Lord first appeared, the man had spoken about the same things that were in the journal. It was not until today, she realized how twisted his ideals were. She would correct her error.

A/N I would like to thank all my readers out there especially those who read and review. I received a review that stated they loved the story but didn't like reading slash. Some of you already know that the story on FanFiction is a tamer version and there is another Adult site that has the more "steamy" scenes in it. The only difference between the two is after I refer to going into a room for fun I continue on the Adult site only. There have been many readers that have encouraged me to write this so that the underage can read it also. I will eventually edit this story for the fanfiction site to be classed as a less restrictive reading. The Adult site will always have the more (what one reviewer called) Snarry yummyness.

I want you all to know that I appreciate every single one of you and thank you for all your comments and criticisms. I really do consider each one and hope that I can accommodate them as much as possible. Since I am American, I would like to wish everyone a Harry Thanksgiving and yes there will be a new chapter up by Wednesday as usual.


	51. Things Start Heating Up

Posted: 25 November 2009

Chapter 51: Things Start Heating Up

"Mother," Regulus inquired to get her attention, "do you think it would be alright to use some of the information here to write another book; a book that could reference where some of these ideas and sights come from?"

"You realize that some of this information could be a catalyst for our family to get targeted. You would have to be very careful to make vague references as to who exactly has this information. We don't want our home under siege from the Dark Lord's followers, although I have a feeling he doesn't have as many as he thinks."

"I would be extremely careful, Mother. I don't want anything to happen to you." Regulus assured her.

"Before we go into that, I want you to read a particular journal that had something in it I believe relates to these people. I found it on Boxing Day after I read the book you sent me. I was looking for conformation of some of the things written in the book." His mother was rooting around in the closet searching for the journal.

"Aha, here it is," she said as she pulled out an old journal. Regulus looked at the date on the book, 1381 July. Almost six hundred years ago. He sent up a thankful prayer to Merlin for preserving charms. His mother started turning the pages carefully to get to a specific entry in the book.

"Here it is, Regulus." Her older hand was shaking slightly as she pointed to the reference she wanted to show him.

"There will be a time when war will wreak havoc in our world

Deceivers will rule on both sides of the conflict

Each foe of remarkable confidence and power

Both will forcibly acquire our heritage and magic for their own

In this time, when the world is at its darkest, The Seven will appear

The Royals will have command of The Seven and will bring peace

Join forces with these for they are sent by the Great Powers of old."

"Remember what your Grandfather always said, 'if a prophecy is truly real there will be conformation of it somewhere else. We need to find out if any other seers have predicted this as well. It will be our final confirmation that this is indeed a real prophecy. The circumstances are strange though, this implies there is another on the light side that is a fraud."

Regulus didn't say anything; he was shocked at how accurate the prophecy truely was.

"Now, Reg, I have never heard of The Seven, but the Royals sound like they could be interpreted as the Prince family since we don't really have royalty in our world, and the Prince pureblood line has all but disappeared until now." Walburga Black turned to her son to get an answer only to see him still looking at the book and staring at the words.

"Regulus, what's wrong?" she asked as she watched the blood slowly leave his face. "Regulus!" she shook his arm to bring him out of his stupor.

"Huh? Oh yes Mother I am fine. I was just surprised, that's all."

"Do you want to tell me why you look like a house just fell on top of you?"

"Well, if the people I work for are the 'Royals' that are prophesied in this book from almost six hundred years ago, how is it I was chosen to train with them? Next week we begin training and I will be gone for two months while I study for my NEWT's and Mastery Degrees in what ever I would like to learn."

"Salazar mentioned something about you going into training, when do you start?"

"Next Monday. It will take only a few months. They have a t... an accelerated program and they have several portraits to help."

"I am assuming they have the portraits of the founders? They didn't exactly hide Salazar's portrait and so they must have the others as well." Regulus didn't answer his mother, he was under oath. He was still in shock about The Seven, the way it was written you would think it was a group of people. He now knew The Seven were the snakes. They were referred as such often enough in his presence. He would have to alert Severus and Harry about this.

"I will be having that young lady, Becca, over here for tea soon. Are all these people pureblood? We still want to keep our race pure." Walburga Black asked in her austere manner.

"I don't know exactly. Severus had a muggle father I think, but his father could have been a squib. He embraces the pureblood ways and is a very powerful dark wizard. Harry had two magical parents, but was raised by muggles when his parents died. He was just a baby; I think it was to hide him. He embraces our ways just as much. He is a light wizard. Becca was born almost a squib and is the reason the healers know so much about how to regenerate a magical core and about the Dark Lord's draining of power. I believe she is a light witch, but is extremely knowledgeable in blood wards, Runic Magic and Arithmancy. She also has muggle information about how to set up and maintain businesses through muggle means, so their Conglomerate cannot be found until they want it to be." Regulus stopped there as he felt a pull on his magic. "I'm sorry; I don't believe I can say any more Mother. I have taken an oath not to reveal their secrets."

"I understand son, and I do believe that I will end up taking a similar oath, in the not too distant future, if I am to help Becca with some of the other Ladies of the pureblood lines. We will see if she is pureblood material or not."

After visiting with each other for another hour or so, Regulus bid his mother good night and took his portkey back to his own set of rooms at Prince Stronghold Manor.

When Regulus left, Walburga Black sat in the library looking at the hidden door. She was a shrewd woman of considerable means and magic. Something about that prophecy shocked her son, and she didn't think it was because these people 'chose' him. It was something more, something he couldn't speak about because of the oath. Perhaps he already knew who The Seven were, that might explain his strange behavior.

When Regulus arrived home, he wrote down as much of the long forgotten prophecy as he could remember. He wanted to warn Harry and Severus that there may be another one out there.

In the Potter household...

"Lily, are you sure we should be doing this? Blood magic is considered dark and we don't want the ministry finding out about this."

"James, I told you the Goblin said it would save our son. I don't know about us but I have a bad feeling about this war and want to protect him as much as possible. The ritual can't be that bad, it came from Rowena Ravenclaw!" Really, she thought, men can be so dense sometimes.

"Maybe we should call Dumbledore, in case anything goes wrong." He didn't want to use dark magic and the ministry considered blood magic as dark, although that was a recent development and he could remember his parents talking about using blood magic spells.

"No, I don't want him to know what we are doing. If the child has extra powers we will be sure Sirius knows, we will put it in our will. This should be kept secret for now." Lily insisted; she was in full blown mother instinct now.

James agreed about the secrecy part so he allowed that he would be alright with it. He just didn't know why she was against telling Dumbledore. It's not like he would tell anyone else. There were a few things now that she didn't want known or told to the Headmaster. It was as if she didn't quite trust him. But then again, perhaps she just didn't want to bother the man with her life's details. Merlin knew the man had enough to do without hearing from them everyday.

James and Lily were reading the book that was given to her from Gringotts. The ritual would be simple enough. A few runes for power transference and the spell that went with it to make sure the parents' powers would remain intact when transferred. This would assure that the power transfer went straight to Harry if something happened to them. The book said it was best to perform at winter solstice or summer solstice but that was past, so they decided to do it at midnight on New Years Eve as this was the sign of a new beginning.

They first had to brew a simple potion and add their blood to it. Then they had to use the liquid to draw the runes on Lily's stomach, where the fetus was. They lit candles around the room in the star points of the pentagram. James as the father helped Lily lay in the middle of the pentagram then drew the runes on Lily's skin. He drew them exactly as the book's diagram showed and watched them glow purple as the last one was drawn.

They had practiced the incantation together earlier until it was memorized. Each of them having a part and then chanting together at the end.

I as the mother, place the inheritance of my magic upon my first born child (Lily)

I as the father, place the inheritance of my magic upon my first born child (James)

We as the parents place the inheritance of our magic, body, soul and spirit, that upon our death, our unborn child will obtain all to keep and protect his heritage. (both)

We as the parents ask the ancients to protect our unborn child and give him strength to carry our magic he obtains upon our death (both)

We as the parents of the unborn child ask the ancients to test and prove him worthy to keep our magic for his future and heritage. (both)

So mote it be (both)

So mote it be (both)

They repeated the incantation twice more.

As they were enchanting this three times the room took on an eerie blue glow as three strands of light proceeded to pull from Lily, James and the unborn babe. Strands of green, gold and red flowing in and out of the three beings involved tying their hearts together. When the magic settled, James nearly collapsed on the floor next to Lily to rest for a few minutes.

After a short time, Lily started to get up and looked to James. "We did it!" she cried in jubilation. "It worked better than I could have hoped!"

James just sat on the floor grinning. He knew his son was protected and Lily was happy. All was right with his world.

In Paris France ...

Remus was with the French Ministry of Magic Minister and three Alpha werewolves at a splendid buffet of escargot, lamb chops, succulent roast beef, and a dozen other different entrees with another two dozen different pastries. He bit into a croissant and the buttery pastry was so flakey and so good, it just melted in his mouth. He wondered how it was that in such a short amount of time he went from impoverished to this fancy New Years Eve celebration at the French Ministry of Magic.

The men and women wore their fancy dress robes of the latest French fashions. It was surreal to him as if he was somehow dreaming the whole thing. Even the robes he had on were of the finest quality and the company had provided them without hesitation although he knew they would have cost him more than what he used to make in a year.

As he stood there with the other Alphas, he marveled that they had a relationship with the ministry and they were treated as a member of the magical community. Remus had been treated as an outcast almost his entire life, except when Dumbledore allowed him to go to Hogwarts. The French Ministry was even putting together the funds to finance the whole process. For the first time Remus was actually selling the potion outright and at a very good price.

The Ministry was not only buying the potions, they were also putting together the funds to help rehabilitate the werewolves that needed it. France already provided schools for the werewolves, but they still had some that did not go or could not easily get there. They were also still separated from the others during the week of the full moon for the safety of the community.

The full moon would be in two days and Remus could tell the Alphas were feeling it. He actually still felt a slight pull, but it no longer controlled him. The French werewolves had been quite leery about the unheard of cure, but one of their pack members (he didn't remember which pack) had been visiting one of the locations Remus just happened to be administering the cure to. When she realized what was happening, she immediately, upon her return, told her Alpha about it. He in turn told the Ministry, who in turn contacted two other Alphas the minister knew.

Remus was awed by the quick way word had traveled among the packs without using the media. He at first thought Prince Pharmaceuticals should just put an article in the paper, but he could now appreciate the subtly of doing things this way. There was not a large rush of crowds and he had a chance to meet everyone and help them without being overwhelmed with a large volume at one time. When he had been told they were going to start training so soon, he had contact the Minister immediately and changed their meeting from next week after the full moon to today.

The added bonus was seeing Paris on New Years Eve. The lights on the Eiffel Tower at midnight were spectacular. They would twinkle; stop, flash, then light up completely and then sparkle all over. It made the French monument light up like a Christmas tree. It was a beautiful sight and from the top of the building they were located, they had a wonderful view.

Remus had brought with him a large supply of the cure; however the Alphas would not take it until their pack took it first. He could understand that, if the Alphas took it first, they would lose some of the werewolf and another Alpha might try to take over the pack before they could get the cure to everyone. That was one of the reasons Remus was so careful to administer the cure to one pack at a time and then move them into a safer location.

With the contracts signed and everyone looking forward to the next year, Remus had time to reflect how his life had changed the past month. He could honestly say that life was looking better and for the first time, he could look forward to the upcoming year.

In an underground magical hospital...

Doc and Shashi (the Light Elf that came with Becca to the past) were in a conference room going over the day's success. Since they now had infants that were drained of power to try their treatment on, they were encouraged with the day's findings. Now all they had to do was see if it would stay or if other treatments were needed. Fairy light dust was very expensive in the magical world. Fortunately for them, they had the fairies within the company and an almost unlimited supply of the needed ingredient.

"How many others do you think have the same problem?" The Elf asked the physician.

"It could be dozens or even more. It happened mostly in the pureblood families because they were the ones who joined Voldemort in the first place. These children were kept secret and there are never any records of squibs. Most families would never acknowledge that they even had a squib. In pureblood families, the child is not even seen until it is a year old. If the child does not exhibit any magical ability or does not test to have any power, it is easier to hide the child no one sees and then turn it over for adoption. The Ministry would destroy the birth records as soon as a child was determined to not have magic. A muggle birth certificate would be processed and the child put up for adoption. Such a shame really, so many children have been ripped from their families because the magical community would not accept them." Doc replied.

"I really don't know how they could do that. For me it would be like giving up a part of myself." the Light Elf said with a perplexed look on his face.

"The Ministry really forced them into it by not giving them a way to raise their children and providing the education they needed to function. If they had allowed some muggle type schools or devices and would support getting some electricity into this world, we would not have so many problems keeping them here. Life is made very difficult for these children. They are unappreciated and unaccepted and in some circles it is sacrilege to give birth to such a child, as if the parents are to blame. I am sure that is the only reason the parents agree to let them be sent into the muggle world."

"But the mothers, how can they do that?" Shashi asked the Doc

"They are not given the choice. There is no place for them in our world. These children are not even allowed to inherit from their magical families. Some of the inheritances are Lordships and seats in the Wizengamot. Their heritage lays dormant until the next witch or wizard can claim it. That is why some of the muggleborn or squib born have vaults now." Doc gave Shashi a sly grin, "How much do you want to bet Becca is going to change that?"

"I am not going there, my friend," the Elf replied with a chuckle. "Perhaps we should warn Harry and Severus? That girl loves to make waves and finally has the wherewithal to do an unlimited amount. Things are going to get really interesting in the next few years."

Doc laughed and pored them both a glass of champagne. "Of that, I have no doubt. I think I will let Harry and Severus find out on their own. We can be entertained with the fireworks ahead."

They toasted to the New Year and of surprises yet to come before leaving for their respective homes.


	52. The Women Step Up

Posted: 27 November 2009

Chapter 52: The Women Step Up

It was January 7, 1980 and they guys went into the training rooms on the second level to begin training. Becca was going to miss them, but had her own agenda with the women of the pureblood families. Today she was going to meet with Walburga Black for tea and a chat. Becca knew this 'chat' was going to be more like the inquisition and was resigned to her fate as she could use the older women's help.

The past week had been a whirlwind of activity. The potion was distributed to three packs of the werewolves in France and another two here in England. There were orders for more and they were starting to get inquiries from other countries based on the results reported from the French Ministry of Magic.

Harry and Severus finally went to Doc and had a little facial reconstruction done. Not enough to change them drastically, but subtle differences so that they would not be mistaken for their counterparts in this time line. Severus was the hardest to have done. His counterpart was already here and about in the community and he needed more changed than Harry.

The amazing thing was Severus Snape. He said that his meeting with the Dark Lord had been quite successful and he had been given permission to 'enter the enemy's territory' and 'find out all you can about those people' to quote 'What's His Name' as Harry put it. Becca couldn't help but laugh every time she heard that phrase. Snape was actually going to start training with the others this morning.

Becca had been given a long list of 'Severus' and Harry's do's and don'ts' (mostly don'ts) from the two men before they went with the others to train. Don't go anywhere without your cloak on, don't go anywhere without Seventh Born, don't go anywhere without your wand and the list went on. Don't forget to eat every meal, don't forget to take your supplements, and don't forget to get plenty of rest...

Becca's list of don'ts included; don't treat me like a child, don't tell me what to do, don't tell me where I can go, don't tell me when to eat… She was twenty five years old, not five years old. Only problem was, Becca's list of don'ts stayed in her head as she didn't want an argument with her two favorite guys. Deep down she knew they were only trying to protect her, but it was still aggravating.

She sighed and moved away from the breakfast table. It was time to start getting ready for Lady Black and her inquisition. They were to meet mid morning and have a visit. Becca wasn't even told if Lady Malfoy would be there, but she wouldn't be surprised. She would love to see the twins again to see how they were doing.

Becca had been sent a portkey to arrive at Black Manor on Grimmauld Place at ten o'clock sharp. She decided not to use it and used her own instead. So when she arrived in the foyer of the house instead of the sitting room where the original portkey was to place her, Lady Black let out a shriek.

"Who dares enter my house without my permission?" You could hear her screaming from the other room. Obviously this was not where she had planned for Becca to land. Becca cringed at the screaming and remembered the shrieking portrait in the hallway from her own time. She hoped that Lady Black was not too upset and would forgive her. It was just easier to use her necklace that other portkeys.

When Walburga Black entered the foyer, the last thing she had expected to see was Becca Prince standing there straightening her royal blue robes and looking innocent. Walburga knew she had set the portkey for the sitting room. No one could have changed her portkey and no one could get past the wards without it. This Becca Prince was a mystery and she was going to unravel it one way or another.

"How did you get in the entryway, when I set the portkey for the sitting room?" Lady Black asked suspiciously. Becca, knowing that she couldn't answer, just shrugged her shoulders and handed Lady Black her own portkey back.

Walburga accepted the magical device, looked at it closely and set the matter aside for later. She was after all the perfect hostess and she had invited the young lady over for tea. "Come this way and we will partake of some refreshments." She said a little sternly.

Becca, knowing exactly where they were going, followed the older woman to the sitting room where she saw a low table with the tea service and biscuits spread out between two matching antique Elizabethan chairs. The heavy wood with ornate carvings did not look comfortable and Becca had the feeling that this is exactly why this area was chosen for their tête-à-tête. Lady Black, however, looked quite comfortable in the very austere and formal surroundings. Becca, not to be outdone, perched herself in a very lady like pose in one of the chairs after waiting for her hostess to indicate which chair she was to use. The hard wood was very unforgiving on her bottom and she knew she would be sore by the time she got home.

"Is that your familiar you asked permission to bring?" The older woman asked, pointing to the carry case that Becca still had in her hand.

"Yes, it is. Would it be alright if I let her out? It is for my protection and she gets restless when locked up in the case." Becca had promised her two men that she would not go anywhere without it so had owled Lady Black the day before about bringing her familiar with her. She just 'forgot' to mention it was a baby basilisk.

Permission was granted by the austere woman and Becca proceeded to pull the snake out of the case. Walburga's eyes got big and round, but being the lady she was, did not make comment. After all, half the furniture in the house had snakes carved into the surfaces.

"What is your snake's name, dear?" Walburga asked trying to make polite conversation.

"This is Seventh Born." Becca answered. "She is very friendly and will not harm anyone that doesn't try to harm me. She will want to move around the room to make sure there are no dangers, with your permission of course." Now Becca had already had a conversation with Regulus when he informed her, Harry and Severus about the prophecy. She waited for Walburga's response with a small mental smirk.

Walburga nodded her head in assent and Becca placed Seventh Born on the floor. She did not speak to the snake having had an earlier conversation with her. She wanted to be able to read Walburga's reactions before letting her know that she was a parslemouth.

They both watched as the snake slithered around the room, looking for dangers. Then, surprising Becca, the snake left the room for other parts of the house. She had told her familiar to stay close unless she sensed danger and needed to move, but she hadn't expected the snake to go any where else in the house.

Walburga actually breathed a sigh of relief. She may like them as decoration, but she definitely didn't want a real one so close to her. Becca however stood up and started to follow the snake.

"Excuse me Lady Black. She was not to leave the room unless she sensed something. I feel that she may have gone after your elf. She won't kill him, but she would corner him until I let her know everything is alright." Actually, Becca didn't believe Seventh Born went after Kreacher. She already knew his counterpart and was expecting him in the house. Something else was gong on and Becca didn't want to alarm Lady Black.

Both women followed where Seventh Born was slithering rather quickly. They had to walk briskly to keep up with the movements of the snake. When they reached the kitchen down the stairs, Becca found that the snake had indeed cornered something. She turned to Walburga and motioned with a finger to her lips to stay silent and to leave the kitchen to the next room.

"I believe you have an intruder." The younger informed the lady of the house. "It seems as if you have a rat in the kitchen." When Walburga started to protest that her house didn't have filthy pests, Becca quickly interrupted her. "This one is not what it seems. It is an animagus and I happen to know there is a rat animagus that follows, as Harry would say, What's-His-Name."

Walburga was not happy about that news. It meant somehow this rat got into her house undetected. She would get rid of it and send those people a message they would not soon forget. She blustered and pulled out her wand and pulled herself together to go and kill the rat. But Becca gently touched her arm to get her attention.

"How are your obliviation skills?" She asked the older woman.

"The best, you can't be a Black and not have them." Lady Black answered, wondering what the young woman was up to.

"I suggest we interrogate this intruder and see how he got in. We could also find out who he is and what he wants." Becca said in a conspiratorial whisper. "Then you could obliviate him and send him on his way. But, before we do that, we need a portkey to send him somewhere else. We don't want him finding the house again after he leaves."

Walburga liked the way this young woman thought. She must be Slytherin or at least have Slytherin tendencies. Yes, this was a much better plan and she was ashamed for not thinking of it herself.

Becca thought about taking a scarf out of her pocket to use, but then thought better of it as it might lead the Death Eaters to believe that the Princes had some sort of relationship with the Blacks. This could make them an even bigger target for the mad man. So she watched as Lady Black pulled a piece of trash out of the bin, and then with her wand and a simple "portus" made a portkey. It took quite a bit of power to make one and it was one of the few things Becca had never been able to master with her limited power.

They entered the room and Becca went to pull Seventh Born out of the way so Walburga could stun the rat. Becca didn't have any veritaserum on her, but she thought she could scare the truth out of him just as well.

After he was stunned, Lady Black hit the rat with another spell that would force him to change out of his animagus form. There sat Peter Pettigrew in the chair. She then sent ropes around him and rennerveratedhim so they could ask him questions. As the man rat came to, Becca wanted to strangle him for the deaths he caused with his sniveling to that mad man he called master. Even now, as he sat in the chair, he was begging to not be killed and to be forgiven for his intrusion.

"Who are you and how did you get into this house?" Walburga spat the question out of her mouth even as she pointed her wand into the stranger's face. "I demand to know how you managed to get into my house!"

"Oh, please don't hurt me." The animagus cried. "I didn't mean any harm."

"I suggest you start answering some questions, mister." Becca said to the man she loathed. She held her snake up into his face, while Seventh Born hissed menacingly at him.

"I…I got tt… cc … caught in t.t…the groceries." He said. "I was in the box when it was delivered yesterday." The man stuttered at the two women.

"How did you know my grocer was delivering groceries to me?" The older woman demanded.

"It was an accident; I didn't know who was getting groceries. I just wanted to go to sleep and hid in the box."

Seventh Born spoke to her owner for the first time. **"_He's lying Mistress_."

"Did you know a snake can tell when you are lying to them?" Becca told the intruder.

"Who are you?" Walburga demanded of the man again.

"P…P…Peter …P…P…Pettigrew, Madam." The animagus was stuttering again.

"Pettigrew? I have heard that name before. Aren't you one of my son's friends? Don't you know Sirius Black?"

Peter sighed in relief that she associated him with Sirius and not Regulus and the Dark Lord. Maybe she would let him go if she thought he was a friend of the family. "Yes, madam, we went to school together."

Becca wanted to get this over with so she asked point blank, "Are you a Death Eater?"

The little rat of a man started to shake again. "No, I am a friend of Sirius Black."

The snake hissed at him again with more venomous tones than before. "You are a liar Mr. Pettigrew."

"Enough of this." Walburga Black stated. With a flick of her wand, the young man's coat and shirt were removed. There on his arm was the mark of a Death Eater. She had seen enough and shouted "Obliviate" and a gazed look came over the man. She then threw the portkey at him and said "Portus" and the man disappeared. His coat and shirt still banished.

Becca was impressed and she turned to Lady Black and asked, "Where did you send him?"

"To the middle of the Forest of Dean." Was her reply. Becca raised her hand to her mouth and tried to smother a giggle. But when she looked at Walburga she couldn't help it, she burst out into very unlady like laughter and soon the older woman followed. He would have a hard time getting back to civilization without a wand and no coat nor shirt.

When they had composed themselves, Walburga looked at Becca and said, "Shall we retire to the library and let the elf bring us something to eat. I do believe it is almost lunchtime."

"That would be lovely, Lady Black." Becca replied. At least she would be in a more comfortable chair. The furniture in the library was antique, but it was cushioned.

After getting situated in the library and being served lunch, the women were a little more comfortable with each other and speaking about several things to do with pureblood supremacy.

"So you believe what Salazar was telling me last week. We should keep our squibs in our world and keep the muggles out of it." Walburga asked Becca.

"It would keep our world more separated and eventually we would not have any newborn witches and wizards from the outside world. It would keep our heritage more secure and we would not be losing our own people. It would also keep families from being torn apart when a squib is born and our pureblood lines would not die out the way they are now."

"Yes, but how do you go about doing that now that so many generations are in the muggle world."

"It will take time. First some of the laws need to be changed, and then it will take generations to purge our people from the muggle world. My thought is to start with muggle orphanages and bring those children that are magical into our world as an infant. Then work on the others. We just need to start somewhere."

As they sat and spoke about this for the better part of an hour, Becca lost track of Seventh Born and started calling her.

"Seventh Born, where are you? You were told to stay close." Becca called out into the room. The snake crawled out from under the sofa and hissed to her mistress.

_** "I am here Mistress, I didn't leave the room. I was hiding from the elf as I didn't want to scare him." **_

"Ah there you are. I was wondering where you had gone. Did you think the elf would be scared? I think he already knows about you." Becca said in English as she still wasn't sure about Walburga knowing of her ability to speak to snakes.

"Why is her name, Seventh Born? It is an unusual name for a snake, don't you think?" Walburga asked.

Here it is, the moment of truth. The Prince family had decided it would be alright to tell her about The Seven. So she started to explain about how they came to be.

"Seventh Born is so named because she is one of The Seven. They are a family of snakes all hatched at the same time from Salazar Slytherin's familiar that was in the Chamber of Secrets. She and her nest mates are living with us and have chosen to be our familiars and protectors. They say they were bred for our protection."

It was nice to see the woman speechless. It was totally out of character for her, but quite enjoyable to see.

"How could you possibly know this? They could just be seven snakes, why do you think they are called The Seven?"

"They told us."

"They couldn't possibly have told you, unless you can speak their language and understand them."

"That's right." Becca replied simply.

Walburga actually slumped into her seat. She them mumbled but Becca could still hear her, "The Seven is a group of snakes and you have control over them. The royals have come."

Becca allowed the woman a few minutes to process the information she had been given and then changed the subject completely.

"We need to reset your wards to eliminate the possibility of another animagus sneaking into your home. Come." As Becca stood up, she held her hand out to the lady of the house and helped her up so they could go into yet another room where the family seal was located under the Oriental rug.

Walburga Black didn't ask her how she knew it was there. Accepting the fact that this young woman knew a great many things and would explain when she wanted to. They pulled back the run and Becca moved the older woman to stand in the middle of the crest.

"This is the center of the family magic. In fact if you look, you will see that this room is in the center of the house and the crest in the center of the room. You need to stand in the exact center of the crest and the magic of the ancestors Black will be your guide and strength to help you. Eventually you can even be taught to pull magical strength from this crest as Lady Black. Your sons may also do this, but they don't know how yet.

Lady Black nodded her head and stood exactly in the center of the crest. She then looked to Becca for further instructions.

"You need to cut your hand and let seven drops of your blood land on the crest, and then ask the house to reset the wards to expel all animagus intruders in their animal form. As long as you have a mind set for this, we don't need an exact spell. The magic will read your intent and do as you ask. Do you understand?"

Again Walburga nodded.

"After you are finished, you need to let seven more drops of blood fall on the crest to seal the changes and end the request."

Walburga went to the mantel and got out the Black family athame that was kept there in a sealed box. She returned to the center of the family crest and concentrated her mind on what she wanted to accomplish. Then she did exactly as Becca told her to do. As she finished with the last of the second blood sacrifice, she could feel the wards resettling and strengthening.

"I can feel the difference in the wards. How did you know how to do that?"

"All manors are the same in pureblood families. The teachings have been lost in time, but the crests still work. The family magic is sentient. The older the manor or castle of a pureblood family the stronger the wards. As the family members die, their energy and magic are collected by the main house. It has been this way for over a thousand years."

"Is that why the wards around Hogwarts are so strong?"

"Basically, but remember that the founders have no heirs so the castle collects the energy from the use of the students' magic in the school." Becca explained.

"Will you come for tea again? I would like the other women of some of the more prominent families to come and meet you. Narcissa would like to visit with you again and after I tell her about today, she will be most anxious for it to be soon." Walburga said.

"You should tell her I can remove the mark. I know she has it, because the twins were not squibs, their power was drained as mine was before birth. Any other ladies that may want their marks removed are welcome as well, but we will have to be very careful not to let Vol…" she stopped as she watched Lady Black suppress a shudder, "Tom Riddle to find out what we are doing. He may get mad and take his displeasure out on their husbands. I know this will be a problem for the next two years. We will have to be very careful."

Walburga nodded and walked with Becca as they left the ritual room. "When would you like to visit again?"

"My schedule is really very flexible, Lady Black. You and Lady Malfoy can discuss it and owl me later. It will be a pleasure to see you and meet with the other ladies. I am looking forward to it."

She then went into the sitting room where she had left the carrier for Seventh Born. She spied the two other boxes she had brought and had forgotten in the turmoil of Peter Pettigrew.

"Oh, Lady Black, I am so sorry, I almost forgot." Becca exclaimed as she picked up the boxes. "These are for you and Lady Malfoy. They are special cloaks for you to wear when you leave the house."

"Why are they special?" The Black Matron asked looking at the magnificent outer robe that was very soft and stylish.

"They are made of Basilisk skin and are very resistant to spells. If someone throws a stunner at you while you are out, it won't even affect you. I apologize for not giving it to you earlier, with all the excitement of the rat, it completely left my mind." She knew it was definitely a breach of etiquette to not bring the lady of the house a present when invited for the first time to tea.

"Think nothing of it my dear. We were a little busy with other matters earlier. I will make sure that Narcissa gets her's as well. Do you need a portkey to get back home?"

"No, Lady Black, I have my own, thank you." Becca then remembered her manners again and said the proper response to leaving tea with the great lady. "It has been most agreeable to have been with you today. I am most appreciative of the sacrifice of your time."

Walburga responded, "It has been most pleasurable to have you here. I have enjoyed our time together. Please have a pleasant remainder of the day." The ladies bowed gracefully to each other and Becca collected her things and bid the other woman goodbye before reaching for her necklace and finding the correct link. "Prince Stronghold Manor" she said before she was pulled at her navel and disappeared from site.

Walburga Black then went to the floo and called for Narcissa to come as soon as possible.


	53. What are the Men Doing?

I am sorry about the late posting for those of you I promised a Sunday posting. I had to revamp the sequence of events a little before I could proceed. For those of you who thought I had given up the story. NEVER!! Please enjoy. The next chapter will be up tomorrow.

Posted: 03 December 2009

Chapter 53: What are the Men Doing?

Three days later...

There was a crowd of men in the room. The area was so dank and musty; it made you wonder why all the obvious aristocrats would come to a place like this. There was dirt on the floor, dust on the curtains and an eerie sense of foreboding in the room. All the men dressed alike in black robes and masks and the only way to tell the difference between them was in their stance. Aristocrats don't slump, Malfoy remembered his Mother saying many years ago. He looked around the dank room and spotted several of his pureblood associates, even with the masks on.

No one was sure why the meeting was called and Lucius was hoping it had nothing to do with the information they had given the Dark Lord last week. Even now, Severus Snape was training with the other men at Prince Manor and Lucius was just a slight bit envious as Snape was essentially under cover and would not be called. What ever it is that happened this could not be good.

"I called everyone here to find out if someone has had news of Regulus Black. He was on a mission for me and I have not had a report. Can anyone tell me where he is?" Lord Voldemort, in his splendor with his black robes that reached all the way to the floor. His cloak had a snake clasp at the neck holding his robe closed. He kept fingering it, as if it would give him some answers.

Nagini was off to the side of his chair and hissing quietly. No one could understand what she was saying and Voldemort was busy addressing his followers. He had assigned Regulus to find a way into the castle of Hogwarts so he could sneak his men in there to take it over. Since the young man was still in school, it should have been an easy task. So far, the youngest of the Black family had failed him and indeed was missing in action.

Lord Voldemort perched himself back on his 'throne' and stared at all the people before him. Someone must know or must have seen him and he intended to find out. He had sent that stupid rat animagus to infiltrate the Black home, but the next day when he summoned him he didn't return. Now he had another follower that disappeared and he wanted some answers.

Malfoy's hands were starting to sweat. He had spent the equivalent of two and a half months in that crazy time room. He quickly set up his occlumency shields as he had been taught and tried to think of anything other than that day. To take his mind off of it, he started to reminisce about Narcissa and her scan to find out the sex of their next child. It was going to be a boy and they were both excited to have a male heir finally. He knew, from the jerky movements of the other men that the Dark Lord was using Legilimency on a few.

"Lucius Malfoy," Voldemort directed his attention to the young Lord. "He is the cousin of your wife Narcissa, is he not? What do you hear of our young renegade?

"My most humble apologies, My Lord, I had assumed he would be in school studying for NEWT's. Are we sure he is not holed up in the library as we speak, revising for his end of the year tests. This is his last year."

"I have, by reliable sources, been told that he is no longer at Hogwarts and in fact his mother wrote a letter saying he was going to train somewhere else with real teachers for the rest of the year. Of course certain people at the school thought she was speaking about us. But then he is not here. Lucius, have you seen him around?"

"No my Lord, we had a big Holiday party at the manor and he didn't show up. We had the baby scan done to find out it she was having a boy or girl. He didn't show up for that either although the rest of the family did. I am on the board of governors; I suppose I could make an entrance to Hogwarts and see if I come across any information."

"You do that Malfoy, and while you are there, find me a passage way where we would be able to get into the castle undetected!" He was starting to rant about followers that didn't know the first thing about getting the job done without being led by the hand. He missed Severus and his ideology about children. Dunderheads, all of them. He was surrounded by them.

Lucius ignoring the hissing and spitting the Dark Lord was doing and merely stated. "I will leave immediately to ascertain the whereabouts of Regulus Black." With that bold statement behind him he 'popped' right out of the room.

The relief he felt upon returning to his own home was exponential. His wards were complicated and so far no one had been able to penetrate them. He was sure that the Dark Lord would have commandeered the place a long time ago, if he could get inside without help. As it was, the wards held fast.

Back at Riddle Manor...

"My trusted servant is also missing. I want some of you without missions to find him. His task was to get me information on the Black family." He swept his ruby red eyes across the room. "Do I have any volunteers?" A few new recruits stepped forward and accepted the job.

You could hear whispers in the background about what fools they were to volunteer for a job that could go so wrong. If they failed in their mission, they would be the next to be tortured. Malfoy and Snape had it easy bringing in bits and pieces of information on some entrepreneur. What a waste of time. Not one of them would admit it, but they had all read the book sent to them and now doubted the political platform of the mad man before them.

As the meeting closed everyone could see that their master was getting frantic about his missing people and not having the ability to infiltrate where he wanted to go. They were just glad to leave.

When they were dismissed, another aristocrat dressed in black, immediately went to contact Malfoy.

In the training room at Prince Stronghold Manor...

Harry was in the kitchen having tea. It had only been three days on the outside of the room, but for them it was seventy two days of work. Just when he didn't think he could cram anything else in his head. Another subject would come up. Severus was just as much a slave driver as ever. He pushed Harry to learn more and to get the spells correct, making him do them over and over again until they were perfect. Salazar was not much better.

It was only yesterday in the large DADA training room…

"Stop it, just stop it!" Harry shouted to the Potions Master. "You are pushing too hard, I can't think straight! Let me take a break!"

"It's not me pushing too hard" Severus shouted back, "it's you not pushing hard enough. You have to focus. You lost your focus and now you are not doing your best! You can do better and I am going to make sure you do!" The older man snarled back at the youth. He was tired of his whining about needing a break. If he needed one now, what would happen when they were in here longer?

"Now again!" Severus shouted, they were practicing wandless magic and Harry had as of yet been unable to do a decent shield. Severus threw a stinging curse at Harry but he didn't move fast enough. The hex caught his arm and made him furious.

"Stop, I said! Just Stop!" Harry shouted with his rage echoing through the chamber. This was not the first time they had this argument, but he was not going to lose this time. He was tired and needed a break.

"Protect yourself!" Severus shouted as he threw another hex at him.

"I said stop!" Harry roared as he dodged the last spell that came at him. He stood there in a terrible rage, his face red with anger and fury building up and needing some outlet before the younger man exploded. Then to everyone's amazement red flames appeared in his hands and he threw a fire ball right for Severus. It was lethal and the man was so surprised he almost didn't block it in time.

They hadn't spoken a word to each other. Harry had even slept in one of the other bedrooms. It was the first time they had ever spent a night separated since coming here.

Harry had spent the morning with Salazar and although he knew Severus was still in one of the classrooms, he hadn't really seen him after their fight. So he sat here, drinking his tea wondering what he was going to do now. He knew he should apologize for losing his temper, but Severus should have backed off.

After thinking about it for another hour, he quietly left the kitchen and walked into the common room. There he saw a portrait of Sal waiting for something to happen. He told Sal he would be back later and firmly left the time displacement area. He just needed some time to himself and he couldn't get it with everyone around.

Harry proceeded to the pool area and dove in not even realizing he wordlessly and wandlessly transfigured his clothes into a swim costume just as he hit the water. He didn't know how many laps he swam before he noticed Severus at the side of the pool. He ignored him and kept on swimming.

"Harry!" Severus shouted to be heard above the water, "You have to talk to me sometime, and it might as well be now."

Harry kept on swimming; he was not ready for this yet. He had only been in the pool for about half an hour. He needed more time.

Finally, after several more shouts from Severus, Harry decided to stop and tell him to go away. He didn't want to be aggravated. He got to the shallow end of the pool and stood up.

"Severus, I don't really want to talk about it right now. I need some time away. I have only been out here about half an hour and even you should realize that I need to relax."

"Harry, we don't have time for this, there is much you need to learn and you are not working hard enough. You are not focusing on what needs to be done." Severus scolded the young man still standing in the pool.

"Severus, we have nothing but time. I need a break and believe me when I say that you are pushing too hard. I don't need to learn everything overnight." Harry stood his ground. He was taking ten different subjects and he needed to rest to assimilate the knowledge before going further.

"I got worried when I couldn't find you. Sal would only tell me you said you would be back." Severus said quietly. He didn't want to argue with Harry, he just wanted him to buckle down and learn everything he could.

"I have only been out here about half an hour. I need a longer break than that. Why can't you understand that?" His tone was angry at the lack of understanding he was getting from his mate.

"Harry, it may have been a half hour out here, but it was twelve hours in there and yes, I was worried. I didn't know where you had gone." Severus reminded him softly, his anger of yesterday dissipated. He was subtlety letting Harry know how the time was skewed.

"I need more time." Harry stated, he was not backing down now. "If it will make you happy, I will use a time turner so I come back right now, but I am not going into the training area until I have rested." Harry then thought about something else. "You can send First Born out here to stay with me. Also Severus, we are going to break for twenty four hours. The others could use a break too. I know they are not taking as many subjects as I am but everyone needs a rest."

"Alright Harry, you can have your twenty four hours. What are you going to do with your time?" Severus asked quietly. He had missed Harry in his bed last night and looking at the younger man now, it didn't seem as if Harry slept well either.

"I am going to watch a movie, have some popcorn and perhaps take a walk. In the meantime I am going to continue my laps in the pool." Harry stated in a matter of fact tone.

"Would you like me to join you?" Severus asked.

"No, I need to be alone right now. We can talk later after I have relaxed a little." Harry was firm in his voice, still standing in the pool with the water lapping at his chest. As he started swimming again, Severus winced as he noticed the red mark from the hex that he had thrown at him yesterday. He didn't think he was being too demanding, but Harry had been so upset. He had never seen the teen exhibit such raw power as he had yesterday. If Severus had not been on the receiving end of that anger, he would have been thrilled by it.

Harry stayed away for three days. He actually went back into the war room and looked through more of Becca's notes and memories about the other time lines. He watched a few movies during that time and he swam in the pool and he talked with Becca. She was going into her third month of pregnancy now and although the morning sickness had subsided a bit, she was starting to eat some strange foods. He even ventured out through the tunnel to do some shopping and looking around. The most important thing he did was miss Severus. He was still mad at him for trying to keep him to such a grueling study schedule, but he missed him just the same.

After the three days, Harry used a time turner to go back to the hour Severus came to speak with him. That was the only time he had seen him in the last three days. As he had spent time with Becca, he could understand they needed to be with her too. They were missing the pregnancy and had wanted to be a part of that. He wondered if that was the motivation behind Severus' demand for perfection and his bull dog determination to finish training as fast as possible.

Severus was waiting for him in the common room when he came through the door. Both of them had hesitant looks on their faces as if neither one knew what to say or how to approach the other. Finally after staring at each other for a good five minutes, Severus let out a huge sign and held out his arms as an unspoken invitation. Harry walked over to him and rested his hands on the older man's chest. Immediately upon contact he whispered "I am sorry. I should not have lost my temper like that."

"I am sorry too Harry. I should not have pushed you so hard. I should have listened to you more." He held his lover close to him and buried his face in his hair. He loved the smell of Harry and he had missed him terribly when he didn't come back right away. "How long have you been gone?" He asked the young man, not knowing exactly how much time he had taken with the time turner.

"Three days." Harry answered stiffly. He didn't want any more lectures or worse a shouting match about his studies.

"Are you hungry?" The older man asked, changing the subject.

"Not really."

"Are you tired?" He didn't know why it seemed so hard to get a conversation going with Harry, but he would try.

"Not really. I want to revise our training schedule. I don't want this to happen again." Harry replied.

"I agree. What do you want to revise it too?" Severus was still worried about Harry, they were not back to the rapport they enjoyed before, but at least they were not shouting at each other.

They called the others including the portraits and all sat to discuss the situation. It was decided every six days inside would have one free day inside. Every seventy two days, they would get an extra two days outside and leave the area to check on other things, using a time turner to come back to their original time. This way Harry and Severus could check on Becca and the others could get a break and go home. Remus was worried about the werewolves cure contracts and Regulus was worried about his mother. Since twenty four days inside were actually twenty four hours, they could check up on family almost on a daily basis.

Harry thought it was almost like having a time pocket where time stood still. In the time room, for some reason they didn't age, but could gain weight and workout and even grow their hair. But then he supposed that they could grow their hair with a spell too.

After a few meditation exercises that Rowena taught them, Harry was all refreshed and ready to get back to work. He briefly wondered how Becca was doing. She was going to her second meeting to see the ladies soon.

Harry was startled as a loud 'pop' was heard when an elf entered the room. Sentry Dobby was standing there in his uniform of royal blue and went directly to Regulus to hand him a very important letter.

"Sentry Dobby, has check for portkeys, hexes and tracers. It was urgent mail and Sentry Dobby wanted to deliver it right away." You could almost see that the elf wanted to jump up and down or otherwise act like his former self.

Harry smiled and said, "Thank you Sentry Dobby, we really appreciate that."

"Master Harry Prince, sir." He stated most reverently. "You are most welcome."

Just as Harry was about to tell the little elf not to call him master, Regulus interrupted the small conversation and said to the room, "It's from Lucius. He says You-Know-Who is looking for me. He said he sent a rat animagus to my mother's house to try and get information on my whereabouts. Lucius has been put on a mission to find me and to find a passageway into the castle that he can get through."

Regulus looked around the room to see if anyone had anything to say about the matter.

"So that's what Pettigrew was doing at Black Manor? I think good old What's-his-name has underestimated the women again. I spent some time with Becca and she said the other day when she met with Lady Black, they had a visitor that Seventh Born discovered." Harry started to laugh as he could not keep a straight face when he relayed how the situation was taken care of.

It was Snape that spoke next. "Do not underestimate this man, he will stop at nothing to get the information he wants."

Severus agreed with him but said, "So perhaps Regulus needs to die."

Everyone looked at Severus with horror until he clarified, "I don't mean literally. How about we stage an explosion of a curse gone awry somewhere and leave a golem of Regulus so that they will stop the search."

After many hours of discussion and many different plans, they decided to use one of the caves not too far from Hogwarts. They would start a tunnel as if he was going to tunnel into the castle and the spell would backfire and kill Regulus. It was simple, it was away from everyone but it was close enough to the castle to look like he was doing what he had been told to do. They hoped that would take some of the focus off of Walburga Black.


	54. Meeting the Ladies

Posted: 04 December 2009

Chapter 54: Meeting the Ladies

It was exactly one week after meeting with Walburga that Becca was scheduled to meet the other ladies. She was to go to Grimmauld Place at ten in the morning and speak with Ladies Black and Malfoy. Then they would have lunch and the other ladies were coming at two. It was going to be a long day and she hoped they didn't run into any surprises like the last time.

She had seen her two favorite men yesterday. It had been decided that they would come out of the training room every now and then to spend a few hours taking a break from the rigorous training schedule and to spend a little time with her. They had to go over contracts and catch up on what was going on in the company. They did get a little relaxing time at the pool and The Seven always joined them as they loved the heated water. Only Seventh Born had stayed with Becca, all the others went back with the men in the training room. Since Remus was occupied as well, Becca had taken up some of his duties to make sure everything went smoothly. She had the help of his elves and the others from the pharmaceutical division to distribute the potions and meet with some of the others that wanted the cure.

Once the word of mouth had spread so far, it was easier to get the information out there as more and more bitten werewolves wanted the cure. Only those that had been born and raised werewolves were hesitant. It would change their whole lives to something they had never known. They were still helped though, to make sure they had medical treatment and a means of support if they wanted. It was a way to show them a better life if they chose that path.

The builders were already installing mini floos in the Weasley and Malfoy homes. Becca had to laugh to herself and wonder what they would say if they knew the other was getting their construction at the same time. Her Great Grandfathers would amuse her with stories about their feuds. She knew once the Malfoy's manor was renovated with the new floos there would be other people that would want it. Lucius Malfoy had already sent over several contracts to cover the expanded usage of the floo network. She gave those to Gorbink to look over before giving them to Severus to finalize.

As she went about her morning getting ready for her visit to Walburga Black, she contemplated on what the woman may want to speak to her about. She would be there most of the day and had four hours before the other women would come for afternoon tea. She readied herself for another inquisition from the older woman and most likely from Lady Malfoy as well.

Just as it was a minute before ten, Becca collected her things, and pulled on her necklace and said "Grimmauld Place" and landed in the foyer just as she had done before. Both Ladies Black and Malfoy were standing there to greet her.

"Greetings, Lady Black," Becca bowed slightly before them. "It is most agreeable to spend time with you today. I am honored you would have me back to your lovely home." She then presented her gift. It was a small jewelry box that the builders were making with the scraps of acromantula shells left over from other projects. It had special protection spells and of course was Goblin made so the wards on it were perfect. It was polished to a high shine and there were runes etched into the design. At least Becca didn't forget to present it first this time. She was hoping her etiquette mistakes from last week were overlooked. This woman had the ability to make her mission much easier or very difficult depending on how she responded.

"Greetings, Ms Prince. It is most agreeable to have you here today. Lady Malfoy will be joining us as my guest. I believe you already know each other."

Becca bowed to the second most important ally she could obtain. "Greetings, Lady Malfoy, it is most agreeable to spend time with you today." Then Becca also gave Lady Malfoy the same type of box that she had given Walburga. She explained to both of them about the features of the boxes and the protections on them and who made them. Of course she did not tell them it was from scrap material merely that they were Goblin made. Products made by those creatures were very coveted as there were very few of them in the wizarding world. The goblins did not give up their works easily. Becca thought that the goblins actually got some form of amusement to know that these were from leftover spider shells.

Now that the formalities were adhered to the ladies retired to the sitting room where tea was already set. Walburga gave the assent to release Seventh Born and the snake, as before, went around the room looking for dangers. Finding none, she slithered back to her mistress and settled down under her chair.

Narcissa sat very still. She had been told about the snake from Walburga, but she was not really prepared to see a basilisk in the room. She wondered if her aunt knew what kind of snake it was. She would reserve the issue for later.

This visit was more of an inquisition, with the two aristocratic ladies as the interrogators. Becca answered their questions as much as possible. Things like her views on muggleborn, pureblood, wizarding society, the retaining of the old customs and how much of the book was true. What she was doing now and how did she come to be the Mistress of a snake.

The only thing she did not tell them was that she was from the future. She only said that she was sent by some other people to 'prepare the way' for a baby coming this year. When they tried to find out what baby, she said she was under oath and couldn't tell. After two hours of nonstop talking it was time for lunch and they retired to the dining room.

Becca was hesitant to approach the subject of Voldemort with the two women, but she knew it needed to be done. They had talked about other things closely related but had avoided the subject itself.

She cleared her throat and hesitantly said, "Lady Black, I feel that it is time to tell you something before the others arrive." Lady Black had the characteristic stern look on her face. She was sitting strait up in her chair with perfect posture and the black austere dress made her somehow look like a three dimensional picture rather than human. She slightly turned her head toward Becca.

"Yes?" She said coldly. Becca knew this was a façade, after all Regulus loved her and talked of her fondly and he must have seen another side of her. Indeed, when they had captured Pettigrew she let the mask slip and was quite jovial at her antics in sending the rat animagus away.

"There is currently a search for your son. This search is quite thorough and is the reason the animagus was here last week. They are looking for Regulus and we feel that you may be in danger."

"I am assuming I am in danger from the Death Eaters looking for my son?"

"Yes, Lady Black, but the men have come up with a plan. They want to stage his death and let them find his body so they will stop looking."

"What will they use in place of his body?"

"Either a golem or a transfigured animal, I was not part of the decision. I just didn't want you to be upset when the aurors come and tell you he died."

The woman's lips turned up in a small cruel smile. "I am sure I will be most upset when someone comes to tell me that my son is dead." Becca was thinking she would like to be a fly on the wall when Walburga gave them the performance of her life. Becca smiled at her in turn and took a sip of her tea. Yes, this woman was most formidable and an excellent ally.

Narcissa, knowing about the search, was watching the exchange before her. Yes, she thought, these people could be Slytherin and she was amused at the expressions coming from her aunt, especially the little smile at the end. She knew her aunt and could almost see the ideas forming in her mind. She hoped she was here for the performance.

The other ladies started to arrive and as they flooed in one by one, Becca could see that it would be quite an afternoon. She was amazed at the families represented there. Seven other ladies in total, Parkinson, Dolohov (two of them), Crabbe, Goyle, Nott and Avery. All of these women were staring at Becca wondering what she had to say to them. The two Dolohov women were the wives of Antonin Dolohov's brothers that had already been killed.

As the ladies arrived they each greeted their hostess in the familiar formal greeting that was expected. They did not however give Walburga Black a gift as they were all from the same social circle and been in each others company many times before.

It was Narcissa Malfoy, standing next to Becca, which gave her a run down of every woman there. Each woman was screened and either was pregnant or had a small child with no visible magic that was considered a squib. The women had been chosen well, as they all had something to lose if the current situation changed.

Narcissa was the first one to speak after everyone sat down in the sitting room. Kreacher had added more chairs so everyone would be comfortable.

"I have told them about the twins and how your people came up with a way to treat the infants that are magically… challenged." Becca smirked at the pause and the substitute word for inferior. It was one of the things pointed out in the book.

"Our medical facility can help them, but it is experimental and we cannot promise the same results in each child." Becca informed the women in the room. "We do try to help everyone we can."

"What exactly is it you do and how did you come up with the idea?" One of the Dolohov women wanted to know.

"For that you would have to speak with Doc. He is the one who developed several ways to try and regenerate a depleted core. He did extensive work on it when hired by my Grandfather when I was a child." Becca answered her. "Our company funds the clinic and it is run as a private facility."

"Are you in any way connected to St. Mungo's?" Dolohov asked again.

"No, I doubt they even know we exist. Because of the current political situation, we prefer to stay out of the picture and do everything privately."

"How much of the book is really true? We received one and I read it, but it can't possibly be true. I mean, how would someone get that kind of information?" This time it was Lady Parkinson who asked.

"The information was compiled from several sources. It was painstakingly researched and many of my family died getting some of the knowledge. It is taken from written records, pensieve memories of the dying and from personal experience. Everything stated in the book is true." Becca looked Lady Parkinson in the eye and faced her so she could see that she was not lying. She nodded in acceptance of the information seeing the truth in Becca's face.

"Why are you not allying yourself with Dumbledore? He is the leader of the light, is he not? It seems to me that you would want his help not ours." Mrs. Crabbe challenged Becca with her tone and words.

"Dumbledore doesn't need any more power. He has been exalted and given too much power already. It is not healthy for the Wizarding World to blindly follow a man or woman without some restrictions on his movements and making him accountable for his actions. We like to do things our own way." Becca then changed the subject; she didn't really come to discuss the old coot.

"So who are you exactly and where do you come from? You appear to be around the same age as most of us, yet we don't know you. You never attended Hogwarts and you are not from the Prince family that we know because Eileen Prince was the last person to have the name." This came from Mrs. Avery.

"My family is not from here, we are from another country. I was homeschooled and have been sent to help you with the knowledge that was given me, to help stop the war. It is time to start restoring the Wizarding World to its former glory. This needs to be done by not killing, but by bringing magic together instead of this tearing apart that is so prevalent now."

"One of my children has already been declared a squib and left at an orphanage for muggles. Can you help me get her back?" The second Dolohov woman asked. Becca felt so sorry that the information didn't get to her sooner. But perhaps they had not been too late.

"When was the child taken? Do you know which orphanage? We can try to find her; I have many contacts in the muggle world that may be able to help." Becca assured. She couldn't promise anything, but she knew the magical children needed to come back into their own world.

"My brother in law took her just a few weeks ago. She is two now and has had no magical energy." She answered.

"Do you have the Dark Mark?" was Becca's next question.

The Dolohov women looked at each other and then at the other ladies. No one wanted to give this information to Becca, but with a nod of approval from Narcissa the woman looked at her and nodded her head.

Becca sighed at the stupidity of people and rubbed her hands over her face. She had to tell them the truth and they were not going to like this. But she couldn't keep all her secrets to herself anymore. She would have to be careful though; there were some things Harry and Severus didn't even know yet. So she started to explain.

"My parents were captured by Vol… that mad man's followers and forced to take the mark, my father was killed and my mother drained of all her power before she was rescued. She was pregnant for me, so my power was gone too. When What's-His-Name dies, everyone, and I really mean EVERYONE, with that mark will die. I can remove the mark, but you have to know that your husband's could be in danger if What's-His-Name finds out."

She watched as the truth of what she was saying sunk into their brains. One woman put her hand gently to her stomach and looked back at Becca.

"How can you take the mark away? Only the Dark Lord can do that and we all know he won't be bothered."

Becca got up from her chair and walked over to one of the Dolohov women. She stared at her and asked, "Would you like the mark removed? Since your husband has already perished we can safely remove it." It was a crass way of putting it, but never the less true. Her husband was already dead so if the mark was removed she need not worry about her immediate family.

"I don't know if I can. My brother in law won't be happy about it and he is not someone you want to cross."

"If Voldemort doesn't scare me, I doubt Dolohov will. Think about it. We can hide you if you want. It is up to you, but only you can make that decision."

The ladies were watching the exchange and were wondering if Becca could really remove the mark as she said. It created a discussion about other things as well. They covered a wide range of topics, mostly covered in the book. Becca was encouraged that the women had read it and were asking her these questions. It meant the remainder of the Wizarding World was likely doing the same.

They were in the middle of a discussion about the mini floos when both of the Dolohov women suddenly stopped whispering to themselves and said, "We will do it."

"Do you have anything at home you can't part with?" Becca asked.

"You mean you want to do this right now?" one of them asked.

"No better time than the present. Do you have a house elf you can call to pack your things?"

They both nodded and called the elves to the sitting room. Becca was amused as both elves, wearing tea towels, bowed to their Mistresses until their noses were touching the floor and asking how they could serve.

The elves eyes grew big when their Mistresses told them to pack everything they owned and bring it back to Black Manor.

"Were those your personal elves or were they Dolohov elves? We don't want them going to tell your brother in law about this." Becca stated.

"Oh no, they are our personal elves. They have been with us since we were children." One of the women answered.

Becca nodded and asked if they were ready. Neither of the women actually believed the younger woman could do this, but they were willing to try. Several times they had been on the receiving end of the older man's wrath and they wanted out badly enough to take this chance.

"This may hurt a little. Mostly it will leave you a little drained before you start to feel better." Becca said before starting. Then as she had done with Severus' mark and with Harry's scar, she started hissing while the other women watched. About fifteen minutes later, both women's marks were removed as the others watched in awe.

"I have never heard another person speak the snake language." Narcissa said. "I didn't even know anyone else could. Are you descended from Salazar Slytherin also?"

Becca evaded the issue by saying, "I am not blood related to him, but all my family speaks parsletongue."

The two Dolohov women and the elves and one child were transported to a secure location to be put into part of the unused portion of Prince Stronghold Manor. Becca had called one of their own elves to take them. It was a section that was not connected with the main part of the area used by the prince family and could not be traced. When they arrived, a Prince Security Elf would greet them and go over the rules. They would also get started on finding the other child. Then both children would need to see Doc for magical restoration.

The meeting didn't really end until dinner time and Becca needed to leave. She had missed her afternoon nap and was tired. After she bid the ladies goodbye, she picked up Seventh Born, who was still under the chair, and went to the foyer to portkey out of there. They made plans to meet again the following Monday.

It was the start of their own women's club.


	55. Time Marches On

Posted: 06 December 2009

Chapter 55: Time Marches On

It had been three months since the first meeting of the women's club started. There were now about twenty five of them in total, although they didn't all come to every meeting. It was decided that they would start meeting in different places and not all of them meet at one time except for once a month. They felt that if that many prominent women were missing every Monday, it might arouse suspicion.

So it was now called the social club and they offered a wide variety of topics. Some of the women that came were considered half-blood and had been arranged in marriages to prominent families, but of course never to the heir. They would become wives to the brothers of the heir. All of them proved to be not half muggle but half squib born. Becca thought this interesting and thought to do a study on it if she could get enough people to participate. There was some evidence that usually two squibs would be attracted to each other and very few were real muggles.

Some of the families represented there Becca had never heard of, but others were from well known Death Eater families; at least well known to Becca. She never told them how much information she had and never revealed that she already knew they were Death Eater wives. About once a month one or two of the ladies would get the mark removed. Those that were pregnant for females came first, but the wives of the inner circle were never released from it as they were in fear of their husband's lives. Becca knew they still had time so she didn't push the issue. Some of the women that came did not have the mark but had family members with it and wanted the information they had.

They had started locating squib children when Becca made a contact in Her Majesty's Family Services. There were over ten children already 'adopted' back into their own families and they were receiving treatment at Doc's medical center. It was truly emotional when Becca found little Sarah Dolohov and brought her back to her mother. The two Dolohov women were now working with Doc to help the other children that had been designated squibs or had their magical cores drained. They were not trained healers, but the kids often just needed someone to hold them during treatment or the mother's would need reassurance. Astasia Dolohov (Sarah's mother) was really good at keeping the paper work organized and the appointments scheduled. She had said it was no different than keeping her own social calendar.

It got to be so busy; the Dolohovs didn't come to the ladies meetings anymore but once a month. Just to stay up with what the women were doing. They didn't really need to work, but they wanted to help as they and gotten so much help from Becca and especially since they were living in a Prince facility.

Since the medical center had day care, the children went with their mothers to work and came home with them. The medical staff was able to keep track of their progress better and it helped with their research. So far over twenty children had been treated with drained cores and all were showing signs of accidental magic at the age of two or higher. Even the Malfoy twin girls, who were just nine months old, were showing signs of magic. Narcissa had said one of the girls wanted her Hippogriff plushy and summoned it from the crib to her carrier as they were leaving to go out the nursery door. Lucius was so proud.

Severus Snape and Remus Lupin had completed their training a month ago. Remus went back to dealing with the werewolves and Severus went to work for the pharmaceutical company in the lab. He did not get the mark removed yet, as he wanted to help get information from 'What's His Face' to pass on to the Princes. Harry and Severus Prince were adamant that it was not necessary, but he pointed out the same thing that he had been told so many times before. 'When they came back in time some things had changed'. They already had Lucius in there as he was more in the public eye and couldn't go into hiding, but Snape wanted to help and be there with him as they had been friends for years. Besides, if he didn't come back in the allotted time, Lucius might suffer.

Becca could remember the argument like it was yesterday…

FLASHBACK

Snape was shouting at Harry, "I don't have to listen to you. This is the best thing for me right now. I can stay with the Death Eaters and pass along information. Lucius is doing it so I don't see why I should be exempt." The Snape scowl was on his face and the menacing glint to his eyes was unmistakable.

Severus joined the conversation, "We have information on the raids and what happened the last time. We are going to change it so we can save more of the Wizarding World on both sides; it just takes a little time."

"Yes, and you already said you have changed time and that nothing is for certain. I want to do my part. For the first time I really feel I can make this work. I want to try." Snape said back to Severus.

"For years I was forced to play spy for Dumbledore and placed myself in danger every day. I was used by both sides and tortured for my painstaking work. I would never want you to feel that you have to do that for us and I did not ask Lucius to do that either. Having been in that position I know what it feels like to not be able to trust even my closest friends for fear they would find out I was infiltrating the other side. I watched as my Death Eater friends killed my Light side friends and visa versa. This is not an easy task and I would not ask anyone to go through that." Severus told him with a firm conviction in his tone. Snape just glared at him as if to say 'if it was good enough for you, it's good enough for me'.

Both Harry and Severus let out a huge puff of air in exasperation and then Severus told his younger counterpart, "Alright, I get it. We will tell you the same thing we told Lucius. Make sure that under your robes and mask you have on your basilisk skin cloaks. Make sure that if he throws a curse at you, you fake the appropriate response. Stick to your basic shields and don't use any of the Merlin shields he taught you, someone might see and get suspicious."

Then Harry interrupted and said, "The most important thing is to STAY SAFE. Portkey back here if there are any problems."

"I am from Slytherin house after all; of course I will stay safe." Snape said in a haughty tone.

Harry gave him a big hug and, of all surprises, he returned it. Severus did the same to his younger counterpart. They had spent nearly three years together in the time room including the breaks and had become quite close.

Severus then asked him, "When do you plan on applying for your Master's Certification?"

"The Potions Mastery I thought I would do right away. The others, though, I thought I should wait so that it doesn't seem too odd that I would have so much training at one time."

"Arithmancy and Runes and even Muggle Studies and perhaps Care of Magical Creatures should be alright to take tests for too. Some of these subjects could all come in handy for potions and are considered soft subjects so they shouldn't give you too much attention. Especially Muggle Studies if you use the benefit of some Muggle herbs that can be used to good effect. You can always use Care of Magical Creatures as you need to know how to safely and successfully harvest from these creatures. I would stay away from Transfiguration, Charms, Healing and DADA for now. Not letting anyone else know that you are a Master in those subjects could be an advantage you will want to keep. I also wouldn't let them know how many languages you speak. Oh, and definitely keep your animagus form to yourself."

Snape nodded. Severus had become like a big brother to him so he wouldn't say anything about not needing to be told that. "I will be leaving then. Do you have my portkey?"

"Oh, I almost forgot. Sentry Dobby!" Harry called out and immediately a pop was heard and the elf was at his side.

"You called Master Harry?"

"Do you have the portkey for Snape to go to the ministry with?"

"Right here Master Harry, will there be anything else?"

"No Thank you Sentry Dobby." And the little elf popped away.

Snape was looking at the button that was a portkey and remembered something he wanted to ask. "How is it you guys use portkeys so much when they are ministry regulated?"

Severus smirked, "They are Goblin and Elf magic portkeys not wizard. The ministry only has jurisdiction and can only trace wizard portkeys; another reason to make friends with magical creatures and not treat them with contempt."

Snape used a similar smirk on his face and said, "Has anyone bothered to inform Lucius of that fact? If he sees the advantages he might be easier to convince."

"We are working on it and Narcissa is helping with the ladies social group. He will get the idea soon." Becca answered him as she gave him a hug good bye. "Don't be a stranger, and come for dinner sometime. You are always welcome here."

"Thanks" he said as he hugged her back. Then the younger Severus called out, "Ministry of Magic!" and with the tugging at his navel he disappeared.

END FLASH BACK

"I really do miss him." Becca said as she sat back contemplating the scene. She was now almost five months pregnant and was getting a little uncomfortable and her ankles were slightly swollen.

"He will be back to visit, I promise; even if I have to go to the company and pull him out of there for dinner one evening." Severus assured the young woman.

He had just walked into the room and heard her soft sigh of a remark and new she was thinking about Snape. He too was missing his counterpart, he had become like a brother in some ways and certainly he was a comrade in this war.

As he admired the baby bump, he looked at Harry, who had followed him into the room, and couldn't help wondering what he would look like with one of those. He was grateful that Becca had been able to save his son, but he really wanted to experience this with his future husband.

Becca looked up at Severus and said, "We should have a party, a celebratory dinner for the end of training. We can even invite some of the instructors. What do you think? Perhaps a few of the ladies from the club too?"

"I think it would be a grand idea. We could all use some relaxation and I think Harry would appreciate a little party.

Regulus came into the room and heard the last comment. "A party? I would love to attend a party. When is it? Who's coming?" The excited look on his face was priceless.

"Who said you were invited?" Becca smugly asked him.

"Someone has to watch you waddle around with all that weight you gained. I could be a bodyguard." Reg quipped back. He loved Becca like a sister and they often bickered back and forth to each other.

"Who said I need watching? If anything it's you who needs watching. You flirt with all the ladies and even some men. It's not that kind of party so I repeat, 'Who invited you'?"

"Awe, Becca, come on you wouldn't deprive a lonely young man the pleasure of being at a party would you?" he got on his knees and clasped his hands together in a begging kind of way and actually whined, "Please, don't leave me all alone." Becca didn't know how he was keeping a straight face when she was about to burst out laughing.

She lightly slapped him on the arm and said, "You goof, get up off the floor and be serious for once."

"Oh no! I can't be Sirius, he likes to play even more than me!" Reg shot back.

Becca shook her head and said, 'Alright, I give you this round but watch out for later. I don't have time to play anymore right now. We were thinking about inviting your Mother, how do you feel about that?"

"I think that would be great! Not that I want my Mother to curtail my meeting any ladies that might be around but I haven't seen her for quite a while and would appreciate being able to spend a small amount of time with her."

"Do you think it should be a formal dinner party or more of a casual buffet type party?"

"If you want to make an impression on my Mother, then the formal dinner party with a side buffet for snacks and after dinner drinks. If you are trying to make an impression on me, a casual buffet type party with lots of flowing drinks." Regulus said in very serious tone. Becca knew this was another one of his antics and just glowered at him.

Regulus just laughed as he exited the room. He needed to go see what was going on at the publishing company and was headed to his own rooms to change.

Severus and Harry looked on in amusement. It was a nice feeling to be a family, even if it was by choice and not by blood. Actually Harry though this was much better than what he had with his blood relations. He turned to get a hug from Severus. He liked being held in his arms sometimes. It had been a long three months equaling nearly four and a half years in the time room as they had breaks out of the room too. Harry felt closer to Severus than ever. After their blow up from the first few months in the room, everything settled down and he felt much better. They still had their arguments, but Harry learned to control his anger and his magic and Severus learned to listen to Harry when he said he needed a break. They both had different learning methods. Harry liked to take in a little knowledge and think about it and analyze it before moving on to the next. He also learned that he remembered if he read aloud, Rowena called it oral learning. Severus liked to read everything about a subject up front then go back and take it slower. He needed to have absolute silence while he read everything on a subject, Rowena called this visual learning. Once they figured this out, things went much more smoothly.

Using the room the way they did made Harry realize something else too, he was now looking forward to being a Dad. He could look at the upcoming birth of his son and could say 'Yes!' he wanted to have him soon. He was even thinking about talking to Severus about when he wanted another one. Of course he would wait until Evan was born before trying to do anything like that, but he really wanted another one he could carry and experience with Severus.

For now, he was happy that Becca had saved their first born child and would enjoy every moment of being there for Becca as she gained more weight and started with her cravings.

He looked at what she was eating and amended that thought. She had told him she wasn't really craving anything but she was sitting there eating pickles and chocolate. It looked like she was enjoying it too, if the sounds from her mouth were any indication. He looked at Sev who had one arm around Harry's shoulders, but Severus was also looking at the young woman enjoying the chocolate coated pickles. They looked at each other as if to say yuck but didn't say anything as she took another pickle from the dish and dipped it in the chocolate sauce in the bowl in front of her.

On second thought, maybe Harry didn't really want to have any more kids.

As they sat down at the table, Severus asked, "When do you want to have the party?"

Becca looked thoughtful, "I think in perhaps two weeks? Does that sound good to you? I'm really not sure but I thought they might want to take their exams before celebrating."

Severus then turned to Harry, "Harry? When do you want to take your exams?" Do you want to take them now or later?"

"Where am I going to take them? I would like to take some of them now, but not all of them. It would seem strange if I took twelve mastery tests at the age of seventeen, don't you think?"

"Yes, I do believe that would be strange…" Severus started to say but Becca interrupted the conversation and said.

"I have arranged for you to take the tests at The Australian Academy for Witches and Wizards in Sydney Australia. It will keep you under the ministry's radar for now. Since Remus and Snape are both taking tests with in the next few months, we don't want you to be all grouped together in case someone there is spying for one of our two evil lords. We already know Voldemort has spies and informants in the Ministry. Also, it keeps you from being associated with anyone you might look like. I have also made arrangements for Regulus to take his tests at the Salem Academy in the United States."

"So am I taking my tests there too?" Severus asked.

"No, you will be going to Germany, as that is where your papers are from. This will be four random places so it doesn't look like we are affiliated. Each location you are going to is in a big city where hundreds of tests are given every year. I am hoping for anonymity. I am sure all of you will be finished in a week or two. Maybe we should have the party after you have finished."

"If we are doing this in separate locations, I think Harry and I should travel together. He can come to Germany with me then we can swing over to Australia and he can take his tests. We should make those travel arrangements soon. We want to get this finished so we can concentrate on the business, writing books and taking care of you. The party can wait till we have finished with testing and come back home." Severus turned to Harry and asked, "Do you agree, love?"

Harry nodded and told his lover, "I am not going to Australia without you, so yes that works out perfect."

"Do you think we should talk to Regulus about us traveling with him to take his tests?"

Becca answered this question, "No Harry, you can't be seen together, it is too dangerous. I have already spoken to Reg about this and he is taking another traveling companion with him. You martial arts instructor is going with him as part body guard and part mentor as Reg is only seventeen. It is better that way. He will be leaving tomorrow and taking all his tests when he gets there. The Salem Academy promised to hold some of his grades back to apply to post dated Master Degrees so it seems as if he was studying for a few years. He will be gone for about two weeks."

"Wow, he gets to take all his tests and be done with it. Can I do that too?"

"If you wish, I have the same agreement with the other school. It depends on what you want to do. Remember Reg is only getting six Masters Degrees, Charms, DADA, Transfiguration, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures. You are getting those same but adding Warding, Muggle Studies, Dueling, Curse Breaking, Healing and Wizarding Finance. I don't want you to be overwhelmed. See how you feel after the first few tests. You may also want to change your mind and get the Divination Masters. In Australia you can also get a Masters in Weapon Making, Wand Making, Creature Languages, Elemental Magic, Creature Magic and I think there my be a few others. Because of the Aborigine Tribes, the Ministry there incorporates some of their magic into the testing. We don't have to rush this; you have a few years to get the certifications."

Harry nodded his head in understanding; it did seem to be a little overwhelming. When you put it that way, it was a massive amount of work to do at one time. "Let's go to Germany first and let Severus do his tests, then move on to Australia."

Becca understood and said, "We can call the Wizard Travel Agency and make the arrangements, the earlier the better." Severus went to make the call. As it turns out, the travel center was one that a werewolf had started after taking the cure when Remus first started to work for them. The company was from their project to help the werewolves to be independent so getting every thing set was no problem. Harry began to wonder just how big Prince Conglomerate was and how many little companies they were affiliated with.


	56. Testing

Posted: 08 December 2009

Chapter 56: Testing

A/N Welcome to the first of three parts, Testing, Testing, and More Testing. These three chapters will focus on what our guys have learned and who is watching them. Then we will have the big celebration party where we will have a surprise guest. I hope you all enjoy.

Now on with the show…………..

Severus Snape had portkeyed directly into the Ministry of Magic, into an empty floo without a single problem. He was slightly curious as to how they did that. They had thought to put him directly in the floo so no one would know he had used an untraceable portkey. These people thought of everything. As he took the lift to the Educational Department, he was reminded of how different this lift was from the one at Prince Manor. That one didn't go anywhere unless you were a Prince, spoke your name and had the proper hand print. They were much more secure than these public lifts, even with the muggle technology or maybe because of the muggle technology, he wasn't sure.

As he made his way to the Educational Department, he was cognizant of the respect he was afforded from the other wizards. They didn't know him, but they thought he was a man of wealth just by the clothes he was wearing and acknowledged him with the respect they would give a Malfoy. He was in his signature black, but that was where the previous look ended. His clothes were made of the finest silk. His boots were of Basilisk skin and the buttons on the robes and clasp at the neck were made of gold. There was no thought given to the cost of the outfit and right now he was grateful. The Prince family did everything with a purpose. His purpose today was to make a good impression.

He finally found the door marked Ministry of Magic, Educational Department and Applications for Mastery Examinations. He walked in with an impressive air around him and went to the front desk where a young blonde woman was sitting. He thought she may have been about two years older than him. If he remembered correctly, she was a Ravenclaw and was in her third year when he was in first.

"I would like to apply to take a Mastery Exam for certification. Can you help me?" He asked the woman politely. It wouldn't do to upset her when he wanted her help.

"Of course, sir." She turned around in her seat and pulled an application from the shelf behind her. "You need to fill this out, say where you took your studies, and make sure you put the subject you want to test in on this line." She pointed to a line that clearly said, 'Subject'. He wondered why she thought there was a need to tell him the line was there. He shook his head and looked at her. She was staring at him as if waiting for something so he pulled the application from her hand with a jerk and briskly sat down to fill it out. The application was three pages long.

"I was in private study; do I put that in place of a school name?" He knew he had been told the test would be harder for private lessons, but he was more than prepared for it.

She looked at him again and said, "No, you need a different application for that." She then swiveled in her chair again and obtained another application and exchanged it for the one he had. 'Honestly', he thought 'she could have said something in the first place'.

This application was four pages long. Snape shook his head again and sat down at the desk in the room and started to write. He filled out everything but the subject and then copied the application four times. After doing this, he entered the subjects for Potions, Muggle Studies, Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. Up at the top of the application it said there was a fee of one hundred fifty gallons per subject. He was thankful that he accepted the vault that Severus and Harry had for him. This was going to cost him seven hundred and fifty gallons. He never would have been able to get that kind of money to do these tests all at one time.

He handed the applications back to the woman at the desk.

"You can't take all of these at the same time!" She shrieked as he handed her all five applications at once. "No one can pass five exams back to back. Only a few people pass two back to back. I can't refund your money if you fail and you will have to pay again to reapply. I can only accept applications in the month you are going to take the test. So which one do you want to take?"

"I assure you; I want to take all of them and will not hold you responsible for my results." Severus was not really impressed with her, even if she was a Ravenclaw. She obviously didn't know about her house founder or she would never have shrieked like that and try to deny him a test. He handed her his Gringotts card so she could deduct the amount from his account.

He watched her discomfort with an amused smirk on his face. He didn't even need to use Legilimency to know what she was thinking as she charged his card for the application fees.

"Here is a schedule of what is being tested and when. Tomorrow is a Potions test, there is a list of ingredients on the schedule, make sure you bring them with you. All testing begins at nine in the morning and you stay until you are finished." Snape looked at the list and noted that all of these ingredients were in the lab at the company facilities, so he didn't need to go to an apothecary.

The young woman at the desk sat there looking at the applications. She wanted to tell the man that there was no possibility of him passing five examinations from home study. She had been trying to get a Mastery and had been studying for over a year and couldn't pass the test yet. He was younger than her and just a year out of school, although she could see the dramatic changes in him, he still couldn't possibly have learned all that since leaving Hogwarts. She kept her opinion to herself though, as he didn't look very receptive to her advice.

Severus Snape nodded, retrieved his card from the woman and left the building. He apparated to the front of Malfoy Manor, knowing that he would have to make a presence in front of the Dark Lord soon. When he looked at the examination schedule, he realized it would take a couple of weeks to complete the tests he wanted. They were not scheduled back to back, but the department had its own monthly schedule of testing. It was not too grueling, they only did three subjects per week and had them scheduled Monday, Wednesday and Friday and each subject was only tested once a month. There were only twelve subjects they offered Masters Certification in and he could have taken all twelve of them. It was great to have an edge over most others. He had already been a well read person, but now he knew things he never would have been able to learn anywhere else. For the first time in his life since joining that mad man, he felt he might actually live to be an old man.

The next day…

The young blonde woman sitting at the desk of the Educational Department Mastery Examinations was painting her fingernails. Her head was bowed and her back was turned as she used her wand to paint each nail a different color. Remus Lupin stood before the desk waiting for her to notice him. After a few minutes he cleared his throat in a hope of getting her to acknowledge his presence.

The young woman jumped as she was startled and turned her attention to Remus after waving a wand to dry the polish on her fingers. Remus looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I would like to apply to take several Mastery tests for certification. Do you have the applications here?"

"Oh, yes sir."

She handed him an application from the shelf behind her and he took it and sat at the desk provided to fill it out. When he looked it over and saw where it asked for the school he had attended he turned back to the woman, now painting the other hand of fingernails. "It asks where I studied, but it was home study. Is there somewhere else I should note that?"

"Oh, no sir. There is a different application for that." Remus got up from the desk and exchanged the application in his hand for the correct one. He wished she was paying attention to what he needed instead of her fingernails. This was rather annoying. What a waste of talent for a Ravenclaw. But it was hard to find work sometimes. He had been very lucky to get the position he had now. It was almost as if he had stepped into another world, it was so different from his old life.

When he had completed the application, he did the same thing Severus Snape had done. Copied the application four times and wrote in the subjects he wanted to take, Arithmancy, Runes, DADA, Transfiguration and Charms. When he handed the applications back to her, she looked up and said. "You can't take five subjects back to back; you will never pass them all. It is better to take only one or two and file another application next month. No one passes five Mastery subjects in a month."

"I would still like you to process them all. Here is my Gringotts card." He handed her the card and she charged it shaking her head at the foolishness of men. Not even a Ravenclaw could pass five of these tests in one month. They were too grueling.

"You are the second person this week that has wanted to take so many tests. All I can say is good luck, because you are going to need it. The application fee is non refundable. If you fail and want to take the test again you have to pay the fee again." She said in a monotone sort of voice as if bored with the whole subject.

"I understand and promise I won't hold you responsible if I fail." Remus assured the woman.

"That's what the other man said too." She replied.

Remus left the office and took the floo back to his apartment. He would have to ask Snape his opinion of the Ministry worker. He hoped they didn't give him too many problems with taking so many tests. He needed to get them out of the way so he could start writing when he finished with the werewolves. Now that a major portion of the cursed creatures were cured in the European part of the eastern hemisphere, he could concentrate on other things. So far they had reached quite a few other countries as well, more than Remus had ever thought possible.

It was three days later that Remus saw Severus Snape. Both of them were at the Ministry for the Ancient Runes test. The Ministry Proctor was already at the desk in the examination room and there were three other people there for the same test. Remus noticed that they were all older than him and Snape. He saw two older Ravenclaws in the room and smiled to himself. He wondered briefly what they would say if he told them he learned Ancient Runes from Rowena Ravenclaw. Just as he sat down, Snape entered the room.

The first thing Snape noticed was the lower level Death Eater informant that was to Proctor the class. He only knew that because he had seen him with a few others that followed Voldemort. He looked around and saw Lupin sitting in a seat across the room. After an insignificant nod to acknowledge the man with the old look of distain on his face, he sat down at another desk on the other side of the room. Voldemort already knew Lupin was working for the same company that had sponsored Snape's Mastery so he had no fear of the information that they were taking a test in the same subject getting back to him. He didn't keep that information from the mad man, knowing he couldn't expect the information to not leak out. Not after the way the young blonde made such a fuss when he applied to take the tests.

Remus looked at Severus Snape when he came in, but noticed the aloof almost scornful way he acknowledged him. They had spent nearly three years in a time displacement area together and all had become quite good friends. After the scare at Hogwarts with Remus as a werewolf, Snape had no problem with a cured one that was helping to cure the others. Of course that didn't mean they didn't have their arguments. It just meant they could get past it. No, Snape's aloofness must mean there was someone here he didn't want to know about their friendship.

Remus also noticed that both he and Snape were dressed similarly. The only difference was the style of their clothes was slightly different and where Snape was dressed in black, Remus was dressed in a deep burgundy. Both had robes of the finest silk and basilisk skin boots. They both had outer robes also in the basilisk skin. It not only was stylish to wear, it was protective. Most people didn't know that though.

It was finally time to start the test. The Proctor told the class his name was Mister Rowle. Remus didn't remember hearing the name before, but he noticed Severus nod slightly in the Proctor's direction. Everyone in the room was to be given a test booklet, but the one given to Snape and Lupin was a few pages thicker. It didn't matter, they were expecting it.

"There is an anti cheating spell in this room, so I encourage everyone to do their own work. If you are caught cheating you will fail and not get a second chance to take this test. You will have six hours to complete it. We will break for a lunch of one hour only at twelve-thirty and you will turn your test in to me. I will give it back when you have finished lunch. It will be provided in the next room and you may not leave until the test is complete. If you do leave this area, your test will be graded on what is completed. If you fail and want to take the test again, you will be given a different test for the second attempt." The Proctor finished his little speech and everyone opened their booklets and got started.

By the time lunch rolled around, Snape and Remus had completed their test. The others in the room looked at them as if to say they knew the two men had failed. Remus knew what the former Ravenclaw students were thinking, especially if they remembered he was a Gryffindor. He didn't know the third person, or at least he didn't think he did. But he looked a little older than the others so he may have been out of school when Remus first started. Snape had already handed in his test and told the Proctor he had completed it and was leaving.

"You might want to stick around and look it over. That was really too fast to finish I would hate to see you have to take it again." The Proctor said.

"I have checked it and am satisfied with my work. I have to use runes sometimes in making potions and have much practice in them. I was here two days ago for the Potions exam." Severus informed the man. He couldn't for the life of him remember his name, but he knew he had the mark. Poor soul, he thought, the man was delusional to think that the Dark Lord was going to give him any kind of powerful position within his ranks.

He pulled Snape off to the side and said, "Mister Snape, I will see if I can grade it myself and make sure you pass. Don't worry about the test." Snape almost snorted at the older man. He didn't need his help and didn't want to be indebted to another Voldemort sycophant.

"Let the test stand as is. If I didn't pass, I will take it again. It is important to me that I know the subject." Snape assured the man.

"Alright, it's your time and money." The man said and nodded to Snape in assent to his leaving.

Remus had been watching this interaction and deduced that this man was somehow connected to the Dark Lord and that was why Snape had barely acknowledged him. He would have to be very careful around him. When Snape had left, Remus approached the Proctor to hand him his test.

"Ah, yes, you may join the others in the next room where the house elves have set up lunch." The Proctor said.

"Actually, I have completed my test and would like to take my leave of you. I assume the results will be sent by owl in the next few days?" Remus said as politely as he could.

"Another one who thinks he is finished. Well, yes you may leave, but I would suggest you take more time to go over the test to make sure your answers are correct." The Proctor said with a sneer. He didn't know this young man, but he was not worth Snape's time, as he had demonstrated earlier. He also was not part of the Dark Lord's followers so he was nothing to be impressed with even with the expensive clothes.

"I will let the test stand as is for now. Thank you." Remus answered the man and then headed for the door. He was hoping to catch up to Snape and speak with him for a few minutes.

Snape had immediately taken a portkey to Prince Pharmaceuticals. He wanted to speak with Remus and hoped he would follow him there. You couldn't floo into any of the Prince Conglomerate Companies unless from Prince Stronghold Manor or the one from Gorbink's office at Gringotts. Everyone had to portkey in every day, and even then the portkeys were personal and only the person they were assigned to could use them. They used the idea of voice recognition software and the portkeys were keyed to the person's voice and magical aura. It was truly ingenious.

Remus didn't catch up to Snape so he sighed and portkeyed to Prince Pharmaceuticals to check up on the stock of werewolves' cure and to see if any mail had come from Finland or Russia.

When he arrived, he saw Snape outside his office and went over to him. "How are you doing? Did you know the Proctor? He seemed sort of suspicious."

"He is a low level Death Eater, and a ministry informant. I recognized him as one immediately I entered the room. I can't for the life of me remember his name though."

"I think he said his name was Rowle, I really wasn't paying attention. Did he give you a hard time too, about finishing early?"

"He told me he would see about grading my test personally and making sure I would pass. As if I need his help," Snape sneered at the memory. "I truly hope I don't have to see him again, but I have a feeling we will. The... how does Harry put it? What's-His-Name? He is keeping a close watch on me. I wouldn't be surprised if this guy was a substitute and the other one was absent with sickness or something worse. Be very careful around these people my friend."

The two men continued their conversation through lunch and then went their separate ways when leaving the office. Snape went back to Spinner's End and Remus went back to his apartment. Remus worried about the other man sometimes. He was right in the line of fire with Voldemort breathing down his neck.

Severus Snape's next test was Care of Magical Creatures. This too was a written test and no practical. The ministry did not want animals in their building, but the test was very thorough and again Snape had Rowle as the Proctor. He was beginning to think that Rowle was just a warm body to give out exams. He had not been in on his Potion's test, but that was almost all practical. He had to make seven potions, three at a time and then write about the potions, their ingredients and what each ingredient did. Some of the potions had to cure, so they would wait to grade them. He was not expecting any results on that until next week. He finished this test ahead of time and turned it in. When looking at the few people in the room, he wondered if any of them would finish. They looked to be more brawny than brainy.

"Mister Snape, This is the second test I have seen you for. Why Magical Creatures?" Rowle asked. Severus wondered if he was getting information for 'What's-His-Name' or if he was just mildly curious.

"If I cannot take care of the creatures I am harvesting potion ingredients from, I have to depend on other people to do it and take risks in the potion not being the best. If I can't tell if the creature is sick, I take a risk in the potion being unsuccessful or worse. I like to be prepared for all things." Snape told him with the blank mask on his face. He really didn't like being questioned like this.

"Fair enough, I will submit your test to the Care of Magical Creatures Department for grading." Severus took his leave before lunch again and went back to Remus' office. For the days he was testing, he had the whole day off, but if he was going to finish early, then he could get some work done or visit with his new friend.

They had the same Proctor the next week for the Arithmancy Exam. Again he treated Snape like a... well a Prince... and Remus like a dog... or maybe a wolf? Just like last time they finished before lunch and left, wondering how much of their activities were being reported to a certain psychopath.

It was finally time for Snape's last test, Muggle Studies. He was actually amazed that the Ministry even had a Mastery in this subject. He walked into the classroom, only to be greeted by Rowle again. He was more than suspicious now that the man was spying on him.

"Mister Snape, imagine seeing you here again. Why Muggle Studies?" The man asked a little too earnestly.

"Muggles have a branch of healing called homeopathic medicine. They use what we would call potions for healing. Some of their ingredients are very valuable to us but they don't know how much. If I want to obtain ingredients for less money then I have to be able to get in and out of the muggle world. Just because they are idiots, doesn't mean I can't profit from them." Snape answered the Death Eater. "It also doesn't hurt for me to know who is in governmental power there either. If you want to do something to them, its better for it to be an important someone, don't you think?"

If the Dark Lord's lackey was reporting, why not report something the Dark ... no, 'What's-His-Face', Snape corrected his thoughts. What's-His-Face would like to hear? He sneered at the man, whether he thought it was at him or the subject, he was not going to tell him. Rowle nodded his head as if that was a good idea and let Snape sit down and start the test. This one was not as long as the others and he finished in only two hours.

The next week Remus was completing his last exam. He was fortunate not to run into Rowle again as his tests were not just written but practical as well. They had Masters in the field to test for Charms, Transfiguration and DADA.

Just as Harry and Severus were leaving for Germany, Remus received four job offers from people who found out his test results, one of them from Durmstrang. Snape received five. Potions Masters were not easy to come by. They both wondered how their test results became, what appeared to be, public knowledge and why their offers were from foreign countries.


	57. Testing,

Posted: 11 December 2009

Chapter 57: Testing

A/N Welcome to the second of three parts, Testing, Testing, and More Testing. These three chapters will focus on what our guys have learned and who is watching them. Then we will have the big celebration party where we will have a surprise guest. I hope you all enjoy.

Regulus had seen his mother just before he left and had told her not to worry about him. She was concerned that one of the Dark Lord's men might see him if he was doing international travel through the floos. When Reg told his mother he was traveling the muggle way it did not reassure her. She trusted those flying machines less than his chances with the Death Eaters. But he was determined and she was very proud of him in taking not only his NEWT's early, but taking his Mastery Examinations as well. She was just bursting with pride, but of course would not let the emotions show. It didn't stop her from bragging a little to the ladies social club though. After he put some last minute things together, she gave him a hug, nodded her head to his Sensei that was going with him and portkeyed home.

When he finally finished packing, Regulus and his Sensei took a lift to the house above his living quarters. They walked out of number five Wisteria Walk, which was located right behind number five Privet Drive, to the chauffeur driven limousine waiting to take them to the airport. Regulus had never been up close and personal with an airplane before. The only one he had seen was flying in the sky while he was on the ground. This was going to be a whole new experience.

The man next to him was an enigma. He was only known as Sensei and Becca said he did not give his name to anyone. Regulus could understand wanting anonymity, but that was going a little far. He was an excellent instructor though and the five men had learned more from him in a few months than they would have learned in a few years anywhere else. The man had not only taught them to fight when necessary, he had taught them to concentrate and to feel the air around them and the energy flow through them. They could now gather energy from the ground or from the air and pull it in if they needed it in case of battle fatigue. Sensei had described it in a muggle manner; it was like plugging yourself into a light socket to borrow the electricity. He knew Becca did something like that, 'borrowed' magical energy from around her when she needed it. It was what had saved the baby she now carried.

She said Sensei was the one who had taught her. If that was true, and he had no reason to doubt it, then the woman could be lethal when cornered and in a position to defend herself. She may not be a powerful witch in her own right, but she knew how to channel power from other sources and use what was around her. Now he, and the others he trained with, knew it too. He gave a brief pause to think about Sirius. He would have loved to have his brother beside him when training. He had spoken to Remus about it since he was the only other person who knew Sirius well, and he too was feeling bad that his old friend was not there. They both knew the time was not right to bring him in. He was definitely a Dumbledore supporter and would not listen to them. Such a hard headed brute sometimes, he always had to learn things the hard way.

After some time, the limousine pulled up to the entrance of the London Heathrow Airport. They already had their tickets and passports for check in. Both of them had only one carry on bag each. Reg was hoping they would not look to see what was in them as most of the things were shrunk, but he needn't worry as Sensei had spelled the bags to look normal. As they bordered the plane two hours later, Sensei led Regulus to their seats in the first class section. Once they had stowed their bags and found their seats, Regulus had time to look around as he watched the other passengers board the plane. He was nervous and wished he could just apparate to Salem, Massachusetts.

It was a ten hour flight to Boston Massachusetts with only one layover. Then another chauffeured limousine picked them up from the airport to bring them to Salem. Then it was still almost an hour to get from the airport to the Salem Ministry of Magic. Regulus thought muggle transport was the biggest waste of time he had ever seen. He didn't know how they got anything done with this slow way of getting to a destination. Sensei seemed to take it all in stride as they rode in the car to the Salem branch of the American Ministry of Magic.

They could have been there hours ago if they had just used an international portkey. Regulus thought that secretly Becca wanted him to experience a little of the muggle world. It had certainly opened his eyes to what they had to go through to travel.

Regulus had to admit that the scenery was quite awe inspiring. When they left the airport, they drove along the coast to get to Salem. He noted the ministry was just above a place called Salem Harbor, hidden under a cloak of magic. When they approached the small wizarding village, he could feel the strong magic in the air as they passed through the wards. On the corner of Congress and Harbor Streets they entered the Ministry. The view over the water was spectacular. The water was so blue and the Harbor was filled with boats. It looked like a very calm and sleepy town and while looking over the water Regulus began to relax. He had been so tense thinking about exams and the air plane crashing into the earth, that he didn't even realize how the muscles in his back were hurting from all the tension.

Regulus didn't have much time to enjoy the view, however, before he was ushered through a door that said Ministry Education Department, Examination Rooms.

As Sensei preceded him into the room, Regulus noticed he knew his way around the building. They had gone through several corridors and he had come straight to the room without even looking around or hesitating. There were several instructors standing in the medium size room. The desk in the front of the room was stacked with what looked like several Examination Booklets and the room itself had ten desks. The four instructors were in a line as if to receive guests and Sensei nodded to the first man who looked to be in his mid forties with dark brown hair that was slightly graying. He stood about six feet tall and had a commanding air about him. He greeted the Sensei first.

"Sensei, it is an honor to have you here and to assist you in certifying your young protégé. It has been ten long years since I have had the pleasure of your company."

Sensei, who was a small thin man of Asian descent, bowed slightly and then stood up straight and accepted the man's hand in friendship. "Marcus, I would like you to meet Regulus Black, Regulus this is Marcus Edgecombe. He is the head of the Educational Department and will be overseeing your examinations."

Regulus put his hand forward and replied in the age old greeting. "Master Edgecombe, it is most agreeable to be here today. Thank you for allowing me to come and test at your facilities."

"Mr. Black, we are aware of the political climate in your country and offer you our assistance in every way possible. I have received correspondence from both Sensei and Ms. Prince and understand completely. There is an executive apartment here in the ministry for visiting dignitaries and you and Sensei will be staying there. First, I would like you to meet your Proctors." The man then turned to the other three adults in the room and proceeded to introduce them. He explained about how the examinations would be administered and what each instructor specialized in. They were going to skip the NEWT's level exams completely and use only the Master's examinations. This would let them finish faster. Every three days he would get a day break until he was able to finish all the subjects he wanted or needed.

"Now, I am sure you gentlemen are very tired and would like to freshen up. Please follow me and I will take you to your sleeping quarters." Marcus told the men as he motioned for them to leave the room. As he led the way, he talked about the sites of the small town they were in. He also explained that the elves had a small meal for them and he would be available if they needed anything. They just needed to send one of the elves to get him. He did not live at the ministry and would be going home while they rested from their long trip.

Regulus admitted that he was tired; he didn't think he would ever get used to muggle travel and it was an experience he was not looking forward to on the return trip. He noticed that on the small early American sideboard there were sandwiches, orange juice, apple juice and coffee. They also had sodas in a small refrigerator. Regulus was wondering where the tea and the pumpkin juice were. He got a plate and put two sandwiches on it, grabbed a soda and sat down to eat. The apartment was furnished in antiques, mostly Early American but there were a few side tables that looked similar to ones he had at home. He was surprised to find out the sitting room had a television and several videos for viewing.

In spite of the bright sun outside the window, Regulus was almost falling asleep before he finished his sandwich. He knew it was about five hours earlier here then in London and they had left very early. He was exhausted and decided to take a nap. With jetlag pulling at his body and the fatigue from being so tense in the plane and coming to the ministry he just couldn't keep his head up any longer. He excused himself from the presence of his Sensei and went into one of the bedrooms. He didn't even pause to see the beautiful antique furniture in the room, nor the room that was decorated in green and cream colors. As soon as he lay down he went fast to sleep.

Sensei however was wide awake. He was very accustomed to this type of travel and had no problem sleeping on the plane. He knew if there was danger he would wake up immediately. He had wanted to go over the boy's testing schedule so he made the schedule with out the younger man's input. He knew the boy's strengths and weaknesses and would adjust the schedule accordingly.

His first test should be Arithmancy as it was harder for him than Ancient Runes. Then he could take the Ancient Runes the next day as he knew Regulus would fly through it with no problem. He scheduled all the other tests the same way, hard subject one day and easy the next day. Transfiguration the next day and then he would have a day's rest where they would be able to see some of the historical buildings of Salem. The fifth day would be Charms and then Care of Magical Creatures and after that DADA. He continued planning until the schedule was full. Actually Regulus could take more than six Mastery tests if he wanted but they hadn't wanted to overwhelm the boy. He did pick up well on Wandmaking, Warding and Dueling too.

Five hours later, Regulus finally woke up. He was hungry and bleary eyed and didn't remember exactly where he was for a few minutes. He looked around the room and saw the dark green curtains. It looked like it was night as he didn't see light coming through them.

As Regulus walked into the next room, Sensei was meditating on a rug on the floor. He was used to this scene as he had seen the ageless man do this many times before. While he watched, he pondered the mystery of the Sensei. He had a few spattering of grey hairs but for the most part, his hair was black and his face unlined. The man knew many people and places so he must be at least in his seventies from the way he spoke, but he only looked to be in his fifties if you took into account the grey hair. Regulus shook his head and sat down; it didn't bode well to interrupt Sensei when he was in meditation. Just at that moment, his stomach growled, loudly.

"It would appear that someone is hungry." said the soft voice of the martial arts instructor. Regulus had the grace to blush.

"I am sorry Sensei, I was going to wait till you were finished and ask if you had eaten and wanted to join me. I didn't mean to disturbed you."

"No disturbance, my boy, I was simply waiting for you to wake up." The older man rose off the floor in a fluid grace that most men half his age would never achieve, then called a house elf to bring them dinner.

"You are well rested, yes?" the older man asked him. "I would like to go over your schedule for the week."

The elf appeared with dinner of lobster and mixed vegetables, the lobster sauce on the side with a vintage wine to top off the meal. Regulus looked at the mouth watering entre and asked Sensei, "Can we talk about it while we eat? I am starving."

Sensei, a man with few emotions, smiled at his current protégé and nodded his assent as they both sat down to eat their dinner. Everything was cooked to perfection and when their hunger had been sated they started to talk about Reg's examinations. Sensei showed him the schedule and Regulus was more than satisfied with it.

"Do you want to take any more than these six courses?"

"I don't know, do you think I should?"

"Regulus, I can only tell you that no one knows the future. The education you have now will never be wasted. To have the paper certifications for what you already know can only augment anything you may want to do twenty years from now. The Princes would have no problem with you taking as many exams as you want. They are taking care of the fees and anything else while you are here."

"It's not like I couldn't..."

"I know you could have paid for everything yourself, but then your name would be on the receipts instead of Prince Conglomerate. They want to keep you safe and leave no trail to come back to you." Sensei was trying to remind the young man that they were in danger as long as the mad dark lord was alive. He had supporters everywhere.

"No one can be ruled out. Don't judge a book by its cover." He said tensely, "Don't rule out an enemy because they might look innocent! Pay attention to your surroundings!" He was not angry at Regulus, but at the way he dismissed things when he thought he was safe. "Always stay open to what is around you so you may react immediately before it's too late."

"I understand Sensei. Trust no one and always sense what is around me." Regulus repeated something the Sensei often said during training.

"Don't just repeat it, DO IT!" That too was something Sensei constantly repeated during training.

An hour after dinner, Sensei suggested that Reg take a dreamless sleep potion so he would have a good night's rest before testing in the morning. Regulus was happy to comply; it would mean no more lectures.

The next morning loomed bright and early. Regulus was back in the room where he met the other Proctors and Masters for his certifications. Marcus Edgecombe was there with only one other person, a man that Regulus remembered meeting the day before. 'Mr. Weston,' that was it he thought. He was going to proctor the examination since it was Arithmancy and would have no practical. He sat down to take the test. At noon the Proctor wanted to know if he wanted to stop for lunch.

"No, I am almost finished, it won't be long." Regulus said. The Proctor looked at him curiously and assumed he meant with the section he was working on. He sat for another forty five minutes waiting for the young student to come to a good stopping point in his test.

It was almost one in the afternoon before Regulus got up and stretched. The Proctor smiled and asked, "Are you ready for lunch now? An elf will bring lunch into the room for us if you would like. You are not allowed to leave the room until your test is finished."

"Good, because I'm finished and need to get out of here for awhile and walk around and stretch. That was easier than I thought but I need to take a break." Regulus was not really looking at the Proctor so he didn't see the look on his face.

"Are you sure you don't want to check it over later? We could have a quick lunch in here and then..."

"No need, I don't want to try to second guess myself so I will leave the answers as they are."

The Proctor rolled up the booklet and shook his head. He didn't have much hope for the young man to have passed. 'What a waste' he thought.

He dismissed Regulus to leave and as soon as Reg opened the door there was Sensei sitting on the floor meditating. As soon as the door opened however the man got up with his usual grace and looked at his student. "Finished?"

"Yes Sensei. I thought we could go walk around and get some fresh air."

The next day went much the same way for Ancient Runes but the third day was Transfiguration. It would not be difficult for Regulus, but it did take more energy as he would to do practical work as well as written. Usually the test took two days, one for written and one for practical, but the Administrator agreed to do all in one day if Regulus wanted to.

The young woman that was to administer the test had Regulus on edge. She was a beautiful young woman, with long straight hair and an olive complexion. Her face was devoid of makeup and her skin was clear and glowing. For the practical, she started him out small with just a chair, but soon he was transfiguring much larger things. At the end she asked if he could do an animagus transformation.

Regulus looked at the woman, Amanda Hawthorne, and was not sure how to respond. In Britain he didn't have to have an animagus form to become a Transfiguration Master. He had one, they all did, but if he transformed he couldn't do magic very well if attacked. Suspect everyone, Sensei had said. After thinking about this for a few seconds he turned his face to the woman and answered her.

"I would request that Sensei come in, I would like to confer with him." The Director said that if he needed Sensei in the room for something it would be allowed although it was not normally done.

"We don't have other people in the room when testing." the woman stated. "There will be no cheating in this room. It was a simple question Mr. Black, are you an animagus and can you do a transformation?" She was getting testy and Regulus wondered why.

"I don't intend to cheat, but if I get stuck in the transformation I will need my Sensei." Reg hedged to get some cooperation out of the woman.

"I can take care of anything that might come up. Are you telling me you are an animagus?"

Regulus nonchalantly put his hands in his pockets, the right one finding the emergency button to let Sensei know that something was wrong. He then answered the woman. "I have only done it a few times; I am not comfortable with doing this during an exam. Do I need to do an animagus transformation for my Mastery?"

"Of course it would help me in grading your abilities. I would like to see what you can do." She told him sternly.

On the outside of the door...

There stood Sensei and the Director Marcus Edgecombe. They encountered a problem when trying to enter the door after receiving the signal from Reg. It was warded differently than before. Sensei put his hand on Marcus' arm to get him to stand down and focused his energy into finding out what was warding the door.

"It is Native American in nature but with a little goblin mixed in. It's ingenious really, a strange mix that would not occur to anyone." He held his hand on the door and focused on draining the energy from it. Since the two were interwoven, Sensei started to unravel the goblin magic that he was more familiar with and then the Native American magic started to unravel on its own. "I think the Indian magic is not capable of making a ward on its own and they augment it with other creature magic so it will hold."

"Just get us in there. I can't believe she did that, these doors are meant to open upon my command as Director. They are not to be warded against me. The building has a safety override for such things." He growled. He was not mad at Sensei but he was furious at the situation.

Finally then came through the door. There was Regulus standing in the middle of the room with a stunned Ms. Hawthorne. She was sitting in a chair, completely unable to move a muscle, staring with wide eyes at the scene in front of her.

"What happened?" Director Edgecombe demanded with a shout.

"She insisted I transform into my animagus and then tried to stun me. Just before I transformed, I put up a shield, but it didn't hold. Then I had to transform back and put up another shield then I stunned her. I thought you were never going to get here. I activated my emergency signal but you didn't get here quick enough. I had insisted Sensei be allowed into the room before transforming, but she insisted that he was not allowed and if I wanted my Mastery I would show her my animagus form."

The small Asian man looked to Regulus and noticed he was a little shaken, but otherwise alright.

"I don't understand," Marcus said as he looked at the woman for answers. It suddenly occurred to him that he wasn't getting answers from her until the spell was released. He pointed his wand at her and said, "Finite Incantatem." The spell held. "Hey, Regulus," he called. "You want to release the spell so we can question her?"

"Not before we give her some truth serum." Regulus replied.

Marcus retrieved the serum and it turned out that someone had told her Regulus was a Death Eater and trying to infiltrate the American Ministry to recruit followers. She thought she was doing the Director a favor by ridding the room of unwanted scum. She believed that Regulus and Sensei had hoodwinked the Director into allowing the young man to take American examinations for nefarious purposes.

Once that was cleared up, the remainder of the testing was smooth sailing.

But who told the woman and how did they know Reg would be there?


	58. And More Testing

Posted: 17 December 2009

Chapter 58: And More Testing

A/N Welcome to the third and final of three parts, Testing, Testing, and More Testing. These three chapters will focus on what our guys have learned and who is watching them. Then we will have the big celebration party where we will have a surprise guest. I hope you all enjoy.

Harry and Severus Prince took off for Germany the same day as Regulus left. It was the same chauffeured limousine that had just come back from Heathrow Airport only to go back there a second time a few hours later.

Harry was excited, he had never flown in an airplane before, Severus hadn't either, but he was NOT excited but he was not going to let Harry know that. Instead, the older man had taken some calming draft potion before he left the manor. He kept up his stoic mask and followed the chauffeur into the terminal. As with Regulus and Sensei, both Harry and Severus were carrying overnight bags that could be brought on the plane with them and the chauffeur brought them to the correct terminal. The Airport was huge and had, what must have been, hundreds of muggles milling about. Everyone was in a hurry to get somewhere and Harry kept moving his head about to see everything. They were standing in line to check in.

As they were standing there, they didn't notice a blond stranger approach them until he was about a meter away. Harry turned to Severus and touched his arm to get his attention.

"Look Sev, there is someone behind us and he looks suspicious." Harry said under his breath so as not to attract any attention from the others in the line. Severus turned and looked around and saw the man standing there. After looking at him for a few seconds he leaned over and said to him, "What are you doing here?" He would know this man's magical signature anywhere.

"You are being watched." Was the only answer Severus received, but the man then looked at his fake ticket in his hand, and then at the board, shook his head and started to leave the line as if he were lost. When he brushed past Severus he dropped his bag, but handed Severus a small rolled up parchment as he picked it up and left.

"Who was that?" Harry asked in a whisper.

"Me" was all he said before putting his arms around his lover as they stood in line.

When Harry started to ask him to explain, Severus only put his hand against Harry's mouth and said, "Shhhh, later."

When they reached the ticket agent, Severus asked for two tickets for Switzerland , and then he paid for them with his Gringotts card. After receiving their tickets, he dragged Harry down the terminal to the men's loo and pulled him in.

Immediately upon entering Severus put up several warding and silencing spells while Harry looked at him with a questioning look. When Severus made a gesture to look behind him, he saw two men standing there. One was the blond that had 'bumped' into Severus, the other he didn't know.

"Alright, what is going on here? Who are you?" Harry asked.

With a wave of their wands they revealed themselves and Harry stood there looking at… him and Severus.

He turned around and looked at his lover that had walked into the loo with him and quirked an eyebrow.

"I have a time turner Harry; I didn't want anything to happen to you while we were traveling, so I took one of the time turners in case we needed to know about any dangers. If they are here, then something happened." Severus said.

"And when were you going to tell me about it?"

"Never; if it wasn't necessary." Severus replied.

Harry turned back to the other two of them and thought how strange it was to be staring at his reflection without a mirror. "I assume you have something to tell us?"

The other Severus that had been masking as a blond a few minutes ago nodded. "There is a Death Eater following you. I don't know how they knew you were here, but he is in the lobby. Did you get the other tickets?"

"Right here" Severus handed over the two tickets he had just purchased.

"We will go to Switzerland, while you go to Germany and take your tests. Oh, and you need some basilisk blood for one of your specialty potions. I would call a house elf to bring it to you."

"I wasn't going to use basilisk blood. I thought they had all the ingredients for the potions they wanted me to demonstrate."

"They have dragon's blood that went bad, but didn't know it. The basilisk blood will substitute."

Severus nodded his head and quietly called a house elf to him. When he explained what he needed the elf popped out and back again with the required substance. Severus added it to his bag and said, "Well, your plane is leaving soon, so you go ahead and leave. We will wait ten minutes and go to the gate for Germany ."

"Yes, and we will make sure the... 'unwanted attention' is following us" said the other Harry.

They parted ways and Harry grinned at his mate, "What are we going to do for ten minutes?"

"We aren't going to do anything. It's a muggle bathroom Harry, not a bedroom." Severus recognized that lusty glare from the younger man and knew what he was thinking.

"You warded the door, didn't you?"

"Yes"

"Good" said Harry before he lunged at the older man and latched his mouth to the others lips, plunging his tongue into the cavern that tasted like manna from the gods. Severus moaned into the mouth that had started sucking on his tongue and wrapped his arms tightly around the younger man.

When they parted for air, Severus said, "You, Mr. Prince, are an exhibitionist and a tease. How is it I didn't know that about you?"

"Can't let you in on all my secrets, can I? It would make life boring and I wouldn't want to bore you." He quipped back with a lecherous grin.

Severus smacked the bottom of his partner and smiled evilly when Harry yelped at the sudden movement. They kissed again and when Severus ended the kiss, he lowered his head to breathe in the scent of Harry while using his hands to kneed the flesh of Harry's arse and lower back. After a few more minutes, even though the two of them were not nearly satisfied, they broke apart and made their way for the door.

Their flight was uneventful and immediately upon landing, there was a car from the Germany Ministry of Magic to pick them up. Well, it was uneventful if you skip the indoctrination to the mile high club.

They were exhausted by the time they reached the hotel in Munich .

"Sev, how did you know you would need a time turner? How did you know to buy the tickets without looking at the note?"

"I had this idea before we left. I had a gut feeling that Voldemort was keeping a closer watch than we suspected. I was with him too long, not to suspect something."

"Do you think we were still followed?" Harry wondered.

"No" Severus told him firmly, "The other us would have made sure to take care of the situation."

Harry went over to where Severus was sitting on the chair and slid into his lap. "Thank you for taking such good care of us. Can we go to bed now? I'm tired." He laid his head on the man's shoulder and snuggled up to him.

"Come on love, I am not the bed and as much as I love having you in my arms, I would prefer to be in a horizontal position." They both got up and made their way to the bed and slept through the night.

They next day at the Ministry of Magic in Munich, both Severus and Harry showed up there in the Educational Division of Mastery Examinations. It was a little different here as they walked through the halls. The whole structure was beautiful carvings on the walls and ceiling. The artwork carved into the doorframes depicted other magical creatures as well as animals. Harry was in stunned with the amount of work that must have gone into the design.

As they entered the testing area they were greeted by several instructors and the director. Each one had a book in their hand and Harry noticed with a grin every book was the same. It was the book about Voldemort.

"You are responsible for this book?" the director said sternly.

"I am one of the authors, yes." Severus replied with trepidation, now knowing why they wanted to know that.

"We would like autograph. It is wonderful to see someone doing something about that megalomaniac. He had started to infiltrate our Ministry, but then the book came out and we realized exactly what he was doing. We value our magical creatures and they help keep our magic alive. Several of them help when we are sick or badly hurt."

"We also work with the magical creatures and animals of our world. We hope to bring that back into focus in the near future. Harry here has a basilisk familiar he is quire fond of and always treats as an equal." Severus informed him.

"He is a snake speaker?" The director said, "magnificent! Over the next few days, we would like to get to know you better and perhaps speak about an alliance between us."

Wow, that was a surprise. Harry thought. He wasn't expecting to meet supporters; he was just expecting to watch Severus take tests. If the man was being honest, this could turn out better than they could hope for.

"We will get started, yes?" The director said. He looked at Severus and said, "Mr. Prince, although we were told you would be getting several Mastery Certifications, the only one we know about is the Potions, so we have prepared the Potions Lab for you and eagerly await the partaking in your expertise." You could tell he knew English but did not practice it often. When he spoke he sounded stilted and often paused to form the correct word.

And so began a long week of testing and getting to know the instructors at the ministry. Severus was actually taking several tests on the same days, mixing potions in the morning with DADA and Charms in the afternoons. This way the potions he was brewing could simmer or sit overnight as the directions required.

On the third day, the testing was interrupted when someone from the Minister's office came into the room.

"Director, we have an emergency! The aurors need you right away!" A young secretary said as she tried to catch her breath, obviously after running from what they knew was two flights of stairs and three long hallways. No one could apparate inside the ministry.

"What seems to be the problem? We are testing and need to be uninterrupted." The director scolded the young woman.

"The aurors said someone is warded into a box they cannot open. It is a small child and they are afraid she will not be able to breathe. They tried all the methods they know to break the wards, but none have worked."

"Will you excuse me gentlemen. I am also one of the instructors for the auror academy and have a specialty in warding. I will be as quick as I can."

Harry looked at Severus, who nodded and tossed his head toward the door, to let Harry know he could go too. He was standing and carefully counting fifty counterclockwise stirs and didn't say anything.

"I would like to accompany you, if I may Director." Harry said politely, "I have some knowledge of warding and would welcome the chance to see this box."

"Yes, you may come. The more the better, I have never heard of a box that couldn't be opened by the aurors." The director said even as he led the way and hurriedly walked the three long hallways and the two flights of stairs to be met by five aurors in the room. All of them had wands pointing at a trunk that looked very familiar to Harry.

"Everyone stop!" Harry said upon entering the room. He knew this box was one of the trunks made at the Prince facilities. It was made of acromantula shells with the runes and protection spells. The only thing Harry wanted to know is where it came from and what happened to the safety spells.

"Does anyone know where this box came from?" Harry asked the room aurors.

"It was sent as a gift to the Minister for his daughter. She is starting school next year and was putting some of her things in it when she fell in." answered a middle aged woman from the group.

"Alright, everyone back. I know what this is and should be able to open it." Harry pulled out a vial from his pocket. He learned from Severus to always have some on hand. He then transfigured both of his index fingernails to grow and look more like a goblin's claw. After dipping his fingernails in the vial, they came out and appeared red with blood. He took the claw fingernails and ran them down the invisible lines in the lid of the trunk and then down the side of the lock. The trunk opened and out came the ten year old girl that was the minister's daughter. He immediately reapplied the safety features as the young girl was wisked away to be comforted.

"No one leave this room, please." Harry requested of the Aurors. "We need this not to leak out into the press."

"How did you do that?" the director asked. He had never seen this before.

"The trunk is one made by Prince Conglomerate. I don't know how the safety features were removed, but each of these trunks is outfitted with features to prevent this from happening. My assumption is that someone lost track of us and is trying to flush us out. If the minister's daughter is rescued by one of us then they know where we are. Since no one could possibly get past the goblin warding, they would know it had to be someone from our company. Severus and I and the goblins are the only ones that can open the chest other than the owner. Unfortunately, the owner was locked inside and needed to be outside to give a drop of blood to get past the anti-theft features."

Harry stopped in his rant to think about the ramifications of this event. It was going to look very bad for them if he didn't act now.

"In answer to your question, I used goblin blood to simulate goblin DNA. It will fool the box into thinking I am a goblin so I then can scratch along the invisible warding lines to get the box open." Harry said absentmindedly, he paused to think a moment and then said to the director. "If you don't know where the lines are, you won't find them."

"Director, may I use your floo? It will need to be an international call." Harry asked.

"Yes, of course."

Harry went over to the corner of the room where a floo was located and got on his knees to make a call to Gorbink. Merlin, he thought, I am really glad we don't have to do this at home anymore. After his conversation, he looked back at the director with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Do you think we could send a report to the Daily Prophet in England telling about how the Minister's daughter is still locked in the box as if I wasn't here? We need to speak with Severus as soon as he finishes his potion he is working on. He will want to know about this. I have our company manager looking into who bought it."

"I thought you just spoke to a Gringotts goblin. Who is your manager?"

"The Gringotts goblin handles most of the overseeing of the company. He works very closely with us to keep things running smoothly." Harry said. "It's the goblins that build these trunks for us. We use the shells that the acromantula molt off and there are protection, safety and warding runes carved into the shell."

"Merlin" the director said. "You really do work with other magical creatures."

That evening Severus and Harry were invited to eat at the Minister of Magic's home with his wife and two children.

The children were a twelve year old boy and the ten year old girl. The brother said very nicely in a much accented English, "Thank you for helping my sister." Harry was pleased to see that the children were allowed to stay and speak with the adults at the dinner table. They were encouraged by both parents to participate in the conversation even though some of the subjects were clearly hard for them to understand. The parents would patiently explain so the children could ask questions.

They stayed in Germany for a total of two weeks. Severus completed his testing in Potions, DADA, Warding, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, Muggle Studies and Wandless Magic. It was a grueling two weeks, but they were very successful.

At the end of the two weeks, they moved on to Sydney Australia and another round of testing.

Harry was excited to finally be here. He loved seeing the sites and watching Severus take his tests, but now it was his turn and he was really looking forward to it (being over that is).

They were met by the Minister for Magic at the airport. Harry wondered just how important he thought they were. He was sure the Minister for Magic in Britain would not have come to see them, and they were from his own country! Of course he didn't know that.

During the drive to the hotel, they spoke about the testing Harry would be doing. They also spoke about the werewolf's cure and many other things before being shown to their suite. Harry and Severus would meet the instructors the next day.

Harry had decided to test in everything he could so he would not have to come back for more tests. Not that he didn't want to come back to this country, but Becca was getting heavy in her pregnancy and he wanted to be there for her. After Evan was born, he felt his time would be better spent with his son. He was really ready to get on with the rest of his life.

As it turned out, one of the testing instructors was a middle aged Aborigine. He had on a tribal dress robe denoting that he was of some authority in his tribe and his expression was... stoic and emotionless, was the only way Harry could describe it. This was the only one who practiced Elemental magic and had already heard about Harry coming. They said that he was only there three or four times a year and only came in for special testers. Harry felt as if he was losing some of his anonymity if these people knew who he was before they had met him. It turned out that the German Minister for Magic spoke with the Australian Minister and so Harry was getting famous for himself and not what his parents did.

It was the middle of the week and Harry was getting exhausted. If he thought the founders were hard taskmasters, they had nothing on these people. They made him go though everything they could think of and more. Severus always watched from the sidelines and smirked when they tried to trip Harry up during DADA. It was after a particular grueling duel with the Head of the Auror Department that Harry collapsed after winning and said "Enough, you guys, I need a rest." He said it half jokingly, although it was true. He had just dueled with three of the best aurors they had. These people were always laughing with him and at him sometimes, but it was all in good fun.

When it was time to test with the Aborigine named Arbulee, they took a different approach. He wanted to bring Harry to an open place to test some of his elemental prowess. So Harry, Severus and Arbulee portkeyed to where his tribe was. Harry had never seen anything as beautiful in his life as he stared at the true outback. It was so open and in some areas desolate but struck you with a sense of awe at the same time. The tribe welcomed them, although they knew that was unusual. Harry spent a whole day testing his powers. He had never been able to on any large scale at home as he didn't have this kind of space to really create anything.

His test included moving the earth by moving a small hill, creating a water storm, a dust storm and then the hunters of the tribe threw spears at him all at one time. Harry wasn't expecting that and immediately created a cushion shield of air that slowed the spears in midair until they just dropped to the ground. Everyone, including himself just stared in awe at the spears that were sitting lifeless on the ground undamaged, as if they had been placed there by their owners instead of hurling at one small young man.

Arbulee approached him and said, "You are a true elemental. I have never seen anything like that. We will do no further testing on this matter. Come it is time to eat and rest."

They approached a campfire the others had started and noticed the women had been cooking there for some time. As they sat on the ground, they were served some kind of meat Severus didn't recognize, but it was delicious in any case. They also had some type of local squash and then fresh berries for desert.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry caught sight of something moving on the ground, close to the shadows. As he stood up, Severus pulled on his hand. "Where are you going?"

"I see something over that way in the shadows. I want to go check it out."

"Not without me you aren't" Severs stated sternly. He turned to Arbulee and said something quietly and they both got up to see what Harry was looking at.

Arbulee noticed a movement from the direction they were walking and said quietly "Stop Harry" as he pulled back on both of the other men. "That is the King Brown snake and is deadly. Don't go near it. They don't normally come this close to the fires and the village.

Harry very carefully knelt to the ground and hissed, _**"Hello, my name is Harry, what are you doing here?"**_ The snake then came into full view and raised its head to the black haired youth.

_**"We are here to see the speaker. I am King of the brown, are you the speaker that came, the master of The Seven?"**_

_**"I know The Seven and First Born is my familiar, I do not claim to be 'Master' of ones so honorable."**_

Severus was quietly translated to the others. He was getting used to Harry talking to the snakes, but the others were in a state of shock and didn't want to miss the show but didn't want to get too close either.

_**"You are the one, the master of The Seven. We wanted to meet you."**_

_**"I am honored to meet you as well, King of the brown. I would ask that you do not harm these people, they are under my protection."**_

_**It was not our intention to cause alarm, only to see for ourselves the royal of the wizards."**_

_**"What do mean the 'royal of the wizards'?"**_

_**"The ones to bring peace. It has been prophesied through the generations. The masters of The Seven would come at a time of conflict and bring peace. We felt your magic earlier and wanted to see if the prophecy had finally come to pass."**_

_**"Then you are not here to harm these people?"**_

_**"We came to request you bring The Seven back here so we may meet them. It would be a great honor."**_

_**"We will be most pleased to return for a visit, however it will be awhile."**_

_**"Thank you, we will leave now."**_

With that the King of the Browns left and Harry then saw several smaller snakes follow. A smile came to his face as he watched the pack leaving. He turned to face Severus and realized the entire tribe was looking at him.

"What? Did I do something wrong?" Harry asked.

Arbulee answered for the entire tribe. "Even we have prophecies and have heard of one to come and remove the evil. I thought it might be you but didn't realize the snakes knew too. That snake is one of the deadliest in the world."

"He wasn't going to hurt anyone. He just wanted to meet us and to find out about the different magic he was feeling. Everything is alright." Harry answered nonchalantly with a shrug.

The remainder of the evening was snake free and Harry and Severus learned much about the magical tribes in one of the oldest continents of the world.

The next day saw them back at the ministry with more testing. As he completed all his examinations he was given the certificates and told that they needed to be signed by both the ministry official and himself. Since the ministry instructors already signed them, they only needed a date and Harry's signature. If he wanted to wait, they would date themselves when he applied his signature. This way they would not all be dated now, Harry could take them home and sign them when he wanted thus making his completion dates different as if he had studied over several years.

The last few days, were upon them and Severus wanted to do something special. He told Harry they were not leaving right away, but taking a few days break before returning to England.

"You will love the place we are going to. It is one of the seven most wonders of the world and has the deepest pockets of old magic ever felt." Severus told him as they made their way out of the hotel. They took a muggle tour bus and then a boat to a hotel located on The Great Barrier Reef.

Approximately 2000 kilometres of blue green ocean along the coast of Queensland and over 340,000 square kilometres, with the most diverse species and vivid colors of coral and underwater wildlife ever seen. They spent three days at the hotel and did everything they had to offer. Scuba diving, touring and there was even a glass bottom boat ride where a diver went into the water to feed the fish so they would come up close to the windows in the boat and everyone could see them up in detail.

On the last day they went in a mini submarine to a few of the different coral cays. Harry was so awestruck by the beauty of the water life, he didn't want to leave. However, as Severus, pointed out, they could always come back and visit.

As they winged their way back to their own home, it was with a sense of relief that finally they were finished and ready for the next step in their lives. They had helped build the businesses and trusting relationships with many species of magical creatures and animals, they now had a good relationship with at least three other major Magical Ministries, they had completed their certifications and they were anxiously awaiting their child. Everything was set for the next step. Severus and Harry had discussed quite a bit about what else needed to be done while waiting to rescue the baby that was destined to be an orphan in this time line. Now all they had to do was continue the relationships they had and wait for the child.


	59. Celebration

Posted: 02 January 2009

A/N I apologize for the wait of this chapter. The holidays got the best of me and… but I am sure you don't want to know all of that. Here is the next chapter.

Chapter 59: Celebration

To say everyone was both excited and relieved to be home would be an understatement. As soon as Harry and Severus arrived a meeting was called to find out exactly how their activities were compromised. Sensei was there as well, even though he had been scheduled to leave and return home. He was there to give his opinion on what had happened to Regulus and also to help keep an eye on things since Harry and Severus had not been home.

When Harry had fire called Gorbink, everyone went into action. They found it a little too coincidental that Reg and Harry were having trouble at the same time. After reviewing the records of the sales from the trunks, it was found that a junior wizard sales person had sold five of the trunks and only listed the customer as cash. It was the only cash sale they had completed since the trunks went on sale to the public. It was also discovered that Dumbledore had tried to acquire a few of the trunks and the sale was refused by the Goblin in charge. He would only allow one per customer. One is all anyone needs, he had told the old man. Of course the Goblins already knew not to trust the Headmaster, even before some of the information Becca had sent back in time was released.

The Junior Sales wizard confirmed that it was Dumbledore that had bought the boxes. One was sent to Switzerland, which the carbon copy of Severus and Harry were able to replace the safety charms before disappearing as they had been the ones from the time turner. The second was sent to Germany, Harry took care of that. After they left, they found out one had been sent to the Australian Ministry of Magic. By that time everyone had been told about what happened and they called a Goblin from the Australian Gringotts to take care of it.

One also showed up at the Salem Ministry of Magic towards the end of Reg's testing. The last one they had a hard time locating, but Sensei contacted the Asian Ministry of Magic and found it. It was locked up right now and he would take care of it when he arrived home. They came up with a different safety feature that would allow anyone to get out of it if they were the owner with the correct password. Because the safety features didn't allow anyone in the trunk, they didn't think a password to get out would be needed. All the trunks were warded again with the correct new features.

They carefully questioned the Junior Sales Clerk to see if he was actually passing on information or if it was just a mistake. He admitted that Dumbledore had told him he wanted to help and that being on the light side he could suggest ways of helping if he knew more about the company. Since the clerk was newly out of school, he trusted Dumbledore. They had not told all their employees to distrust him, so Severus said it was really their fault for not making it clear. The clerk was moved to a different part of the company to minimize his contact with the outside and was told not to speak to anyone on behalf of Dumbledore. Although he looked a little confused, they had no doubt he would follow their instructions. For the first time since coming to this time line, Severus and Harry sent out a company wide memo restricting everyone from speaking about the company. They had consulted with the portraits Salazar and Merlin and as soon as an employee read the memo, there was a spell that was activated to prevent them from discussing business with anyone other than their fellow employees. Naturally this did not include the other three that had trained with them. These men needed to talk about the company in certain aspects to stay safe. Nor did it include the others that had come with them from the other time line.

The next step was to deal with the chauffeur. He had alerted Dumbledore who was leaving and although the area was under a fidelis charm to prevent him from revealing their location, he did leak the information that the men were leaving the country. Obviously they had gotten the Headmaster's attention.

For the next two weeks they were busy with the plans for the celebration party. The ladies group, all five students and some of the other high level employees were all invited. Becca had been conferring with the elves for days to make sure the food would be perfect. Harry decided that he wanted to decorate the pool room to look like an underwater Barrier Reef, just like he had seen in Australia. He covered the pool with a solid platform and decorated the walls to look like some of the coral cays he and Severus had visited. Using a pensieve memory of their visit, he got some of the elves to help. The walls were changed to look like the under water instead of the beach and there were fish, seahorses, jellyfish, starfish and even an octopus floating though the air above everyone's' head to look like the marine life. The vibrant colors made the room very festive and Harry was truly happy with it.

To go along with the theme, Becca had the elves make all kinds of seafood including lobster, fish, scallops, and calamari. The other foods were colored to simulate the theme. Even the cake was decorated with colored icing that emulated the surrounding decorations. The overhead additions were spectacular, starting seven feet up and going to the ceiling. Even the air took on a blue green hue to depict the ocean.

Every one was slowly portkeyed into the top level of the manor two or three at a time every three minutes. After the security checks they were escorted to the middle level to where the party was getting under way. The first two people to arrived after the guests of honor were the Malfoys.

Both of them were dressed in high quality formal wear. Narcissa in resplendent powder blue robes, while Lucius was dressed in the formal black and white tailored fit robes worn by all pureblood nobles.

As soon as Narcissa and Lucius were transported to the security area, Dobby stepped forward to verify who they were and that they were actually on the guest list.

"Dobby!" Lucius exclaimed. "What are you doing here? You should be back at the manor!" He was not happy to see his house elf standing in front of him in a Prince Conglomerate uniform and doing sentry duty. He had given him several things to do before he left and one of them was to help watch the twins.

"I am not your Dobby" he replied politely. "I am Sentry Dobby of the Prince family. I came with them when they left the other place. I am a free elf." he stated with conviction.

"What do you mean you are a free elf?" Lucius ask as he eyed him suspiciously.

"Lucius," Narcissa said, "look at him; he is much older than our Dobby." She had become quite good at guessing the ages of the house elves around her. Not that they aged the same as humans, but one certainly could see this one was at least twenty years older. She only learned to pay attention because when they were too old they couldn't handle as much day to day work and needed to have their workload adjusted.

Just as Lucius was about to say something else, Harry walked into the room and greeted them.

"Lord and Lady Malfoy, it is very agreeable to be in your presence again. I am so glad you could make it." Harry extended his hand and after shaking Lucius' hand the kissed the back of Narcissa's hand. "Please step this way and we will go one level down to where the party will be held."

Lucius, who was still staring at Dobby, asked Harry, "Is that our Dobby? Why is he here?"

"Ah, I was not sure you would recognize him. He came with us from the other place. He is not your Dobby, but he is very much like him, don't you think?"

"Indeed" was the response from the Malfoys as they entered the lift to get to the lower level.

There was much merriment and general conversation as the guests arrived two or three at a time and they passed through the checkpoint on the level above them

In total about fifty people arrived within the half hour at the start of the party. When all the expected guests were present, and had been given a glass of champagne, Becca called for everyone's attention.

"Thank you all for coming," she said after tapping the side of her champagne flute to get everyone's attention. All the pregnant women had actually been served sparkling apple cider but the glassed were the same. "We are gathered here today to extend our congratulations to five men who have worked very hard the past few months to achieve their success." She paused to search the room for the men in question. "Would Remus, Severus, Severs, Harry and Regulus please come forward?"

As the five men, reluctantly, came forward, you could see the expressions on their faces. They had not been expecting Becca to make a show. Harry especially hated the attention this type of announcement created.

"Just in case you don't know everyone, I wish to introduce to you Severs Prince, owner of Prince Conglomerate, his fiancé Harry Platt soon to be Prince, Remus Lupin the head of our werewolf cure campaign, Regulus Black who right now works in distribution with the publishing company and Severus Snape who is a Potions Master with our Potions Division." Becca announced to the crowd in the room.

"Everyone, these are the future writers of Prince Publishing. These five young men represent thirty two master degrees in over twenty different subjects. They will be attempting to upgrade and write new text books for our future young ones in the next few upcoming years. Their subjects will be Transfiguration, Muggle Studies, History, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Charms, DADA, Weapons Making, Divination, Wand Making, Care of Magical Creatures, Potions, as well as Martial Arts, Ancient languages, Foreign Languages and Understanding Other Cultures as well as others I may have forgotten about. We also have plans for books on Occlumency, Weapons Battle, Warding and Wandless and Elemental Magic. Please give them all a welcoming hand in congratulations for their efforts in upgrading the education of the future wizarding world."

Everyone clapped for the five men in front of them and as the men created a receiving line so that the guests could shake their hand and offer their personal congratulations.

"I am so proud of you, Regulus." His mother said as she shook his hand and kissed him on the cheek. "You father would be very proud of you right now." A tear found its way down her stoic cheek but she quickly got hold of her emotions and schooled her features to not reveal anything to the others in the room. It would not be seemly to show her feelings to the others crowded about.

"Thank you mother, I will do my best to make you proud. It will be much work but I am looking forward to the challenge."

Snape was looking about the room as he shook hands with the people coming forward. He hated this kind of attention and if he had known that they were going to do this, he would have skipped this little soirée completely. In his opinion this was completely ridiculous. However, he was able to spot several Death Eaters among the crowd. Whether or not they were true followers of the Dark Lord, or escapees as some of the women were he did not know. He made a mental note to speak with the Princes as soon as this unnecessary fuss was over.

Just as they were about half way though the guests, all of a sudden the alarms started going off. There was a loud ringing and everyone covered their ears with their hands as the noise became almost deafening.

Severus and Harry gently but hurriedly pushed everyone to the side so they could get to the lift for the first level. Behind them were Remus, Snape and Reg coming to back them up in case there was any trouble. First Born showed up in the floo and snaked his way to the lift opening just as it was arriving. Harry heard some gasps from the guests but he was more worried about the trouble on the upper level and ignored it for now.

**"_First Born, do you know who is in the upper level?"**_ he asked as the lift opened after he had placed his hand on the electronic panel and stated his name. He felt the scanner on his eye and the door opened.

**"_Yes, Master_,"** First Born replied. **"_It is someone from the other place_."**

**"_What do you mean the other place?_"** Harry asked as the lift started to open to the next floor. But as the door opened, he knew exactly what his familiar meant. There in the middle of the room stood three people Harry never thought to see again. There was a small child in the arms of a woman with brilliant purple hair and her spouse that was holding a trunk in his left hand even as he steadied her with his right. The other gentleman standing with them, the one with a wand in his hand, was the biggest surprise of them all. But Harry was focused on the couple with the child. He finally shook off his shock and cried,

"Remy!" he screamed as he ran forward and threw his arms around him. His honorary godfather dropped the truck and wrapped his arms around his cub.

"Cub!" Remus cried. "You are a sight for these sore eyes. I am so happy to see you again."

They didn't even notice the snake around Harry's neck until it started hissing as it was crushed in between the chests of the two men. Harry gave First Born a quick apology and put him down before throwing his arms around Remus again. Tears were streaming down his cheeks as he hugged the man he had left behind and thought never to see again. As he started to compose himself, he then threw his arms around Tonks, who was standing there patiently waiting with a small child in her arms.

As he let go of Tonks, Harry started babbling with questions. "How did you.. How are you… Where did…" Harry took a deep breathe and tried again. "Where did you guys come from and how did you get here?"

It was Remus that replied, "I think we will let Sal explain those details. We hope it won't be an inconvenience if we stay here for a while?"

Harry cheeks were stained with red as he realized he was completely ignoring Lord Slytherin that was standing there in his regal manner watching the interactions of the three adults.

"Lord Slytherin, please excuse my behavior. It is most agreeable to make your acquaintance this evening." Harry bowed to the founder in his best manner.

"Harry?" Severus said behind him, "I think our guests may want to join the party downstairs while the elves prepare some accommodations for them." Harry pulled himself together and looked to Remus and Tonks.

"We are having a party downstairs to celebrate the completion of our Masters Certifications. Would you like to join us?" He asked all three adults in front of him.

Lord Slytherin merely nodded and Tonks and Remy looked at each other before answering. "Is it alright to bring Teddy? He is our son and doesn't do well with strangers. If not then we can just go to another room until your celebration is over."

"No, I want you to come, and Teddy can come along. Here, let's just change your clothes for a minute." Harry then transfigured their clothes into a more formal look and then transfigured Teddy's little blue jeans and jacket to formal children's wear. He looked so cute in his little cape.

"Wow, Cub, you have learned some things since we last saw you." Remy said.

"You don't know the half of it Remy, but we will talk later."

As the three came to the conclusion of their conversation, Remy and Tonks turned to follow Harry to the lift. Standing there, not saying a word were the other three men, still trying to comprehend what was going on. At least the alarm had been turned off by Severus where they arrived and it no longer sounded above the ground so they didn't have to worry about the muggle neighborhood hearing it.

"Oh," Harry said as they went toward the lift. "We have to give you another name. We can't introduce you to the other guests as Remus Lupin, they will wonder about there being two."

"Don't fret Harry; you may introduce us as Dora and Remy Tonks. That should work for now until we get a chance to talk and make other plans." Remy looked fondly on his young cub that had grown into a charming and intelligent man. He was certainly much healthier than the last time he saw him. Things must be going well for him.

"Remy, here I am Harry Platt, soon to be Prince. We don't use my other name. You have to remember that, it is really important."

"How about I just call you Cub and leave it at that." Remy replied. "You can explain later."

Harry nodded as they exited the lift into the party room.

It was obvious that Becca had taken control of the situation down here and calmed their guests down when the men had left. She would have preferred to go with the men and find out what was going on, but being the perfect well bred hostess she was, she had elicited Walburga Black's help in getting the elves organized in serving the food around the room and circulating around to make sure everyone was taken care of.

As the eight adults and one child exited the lift, her eyes grew wide at the presence of the one man she would always welcome above them all. She quickly excused herself as decorously as possible rushed to the man she had only hoped to unite with in her dreams. There stepping off the lift was Salazar Slytherin in his signature robes of silver and green. Around his neck was First Born, who was apparently speaking to him about some of the things going on as Harry and Severus were preoccupied with the others.

"As she got close to the lift, she took a deep breath and said in a soft sigh, "Salazar!"

Lord Slytherin snapped his head and looked at the young woman before him. "Becca!" he said as he opened his arms and she rushed into them.

Harry and Severus were just behind the couple and both looked at each other as Harry said, "Alright, wasn't expecting that!"

"Indeed" came the reply from his lover.


	60. Stories from the Past

Posted: 03 January 2, 2010

Chapter 60: Stories from the Past

Everyone started talking all at once. With the new comers, came new questions about the Princes and what they were doing. Several of the purebloods recognized the man in the quality green and silver robes as someone that looked like Salazar Slytherin and must be related to him. Although his robes appeared to be of an older style they still were of the utmost finery. But the only one they knew that could claim to be Slytherin's heir was the Dark Lord and they had been told the Prince Organization did not support him.

This man however, had an air about him that the Dark Lord could never achieve. He was not only elegant in a way that spoke of breeding and confidence; he pulsed with an old magic power that no one had seen in a long time. At least not until the Prince family had shown up. He was obviously of pureblood breeding and very old pureblood at that. They were all curious as to where he came from and why he was there. In contrast, it was easy to understand the difference between this man and the Dark Lord. This man's magic was dark and tinged with old magic, the Dark Lord's was dark magic tinged with evil. Those who had been in the service of the mad man, finally started to see the difference and it would forever make a lasting impression. Suddenly the book that had been sent to them was making complete sense and their minds were open to the truth for the first time.

Harry then stood at the podium and spoke to everyone in the room.

"Everyone please, may I have your attention. I would like to introduce you to our unexpected guests. They have traveled a great distance to be here and we did not realize they would arrive tonight. The gentleman standing next to Becca is Lord Slytherin and the couple is Dora and Remy Tonks with their son Teddy." At this Narcissa snapped her head forward and she noticed her aunt also looked at the acknowledgement of the name. "Please help us to make them welcome as we continue with our celebrations."

It was another hour before the party came to a close and the guests were escorted to the upper level to be portkeyed back to their homes. The Malfoy's were among the last to leave.

"Are you related to my sister, Andromeda?" Narcissa wanted to know of the couple. It was Tonks that answered her.

"Distantly, I believe, Lady Malfoy. The Tonks were from an old pureblood family that had several squib born children." She was glad that Becca had given her some brief instructions on what to say if approached by Narcissa or Walburga.

"Ah, yes the squib born. Such a shame that we didn't have this information sooner, it could have saved so much trouble." Narcissa replied.

"I believe we did have it, some just didn't want to believe it." Tonks said. She was trying to stay neutral with the woman, even given the history between them. She had to remind herself that this was not the woman that had helped to shun her mother from the family in her own time line.

"I look forward to seeing you again soon, perhaps at our Lady's Social Club? Ask Becca for the details if you will be staying awhile."

"It would be most agreeable to further our acquaintance Lady Malfoy. Have a good evening." Tonks smiled as she cut the conversation short, she didn't want to say anything that would compromise the safety of the family before she found out exactly where and when they were. This time travel stuff was giving her a headache.

She walked over to her husband who was speaking with his younger self. They had left in the morning from the time facility that Sal said was in between time lines, but now it obviously was night. Poor little Teddy didn't know what to do with all the sudden attention. Severus, the younger Remus and Harry kept taking turns holding him and he seemed confused about the younger Remus. She could sympathize with him, she was confused too.

When the last of the guests left with Sentry Dobby in command of the untraceable portkeys, and making sure no one could come back in without permission, the group of current adults remaining consisted of Remus (the younger) Harry, Severus, Becca, Regulus, Snape and the four new time travelers. Severus had already called an elf earlier to prepare quarters for the four of them.

When they arrived at the Prince quarters, the elves set out tea and biscuits for the ten people that had congregated in the room. Harry sat on the sofa with Remy and Tonks on his other side. Salazar sat with Becca in the matching love seat. Other chairs were brought in so the group could be comfortable.

"Now, tell me how you guys came to be here." Harry said as they settled in with their tea. "I never expected to see you again." As he said this he leaned into Remy letting him know how much this had distressed him. He looked over at Teddy who was on a blanket on the floor playing with a few toys Harry had conjured for him. Presently he was watching a teddy bear walk around and say "Teddy", "Teddy".

"You had a job to do Harry, and you left plenty of information and help behind. You said you knew the time line was going to destroy itself, but you hoped we could make a difference. Your letter explained everything you had gone through and everything you were trying to do. You could not have done more to make my last days as fulfilling as possible. Do not blame yourself for having to leave me behind. It took your letter nearly two weeks to reach me. You had already been gone into this other time line long before I received it." Remy took Harry's hand and held it, patting the back in a fatherly fashion, giving testament to the affection he had for the young man.

"But how did you get here?"

"I can answer that question." Salazar spoke up for the first time this evening. So far he had only conversed with First Born and quietly watched everything going on around him other than to say a few words to their guests of earlier.

"I was trying to follow Becca. We have been conversing through the mirrors of past and future for many years. I watched her grow up into the beautiful young woman she is today. When her Great Grandfathers discovered the secret magic of a Time Spirit, I was the only one on record as having that particular type of magic. We spent much time together through the mirrors studying and looking for answers. When I learned of what was happening and what my supposed heir did, I had an argument with Godric and Rowena about the squibs and told them what would happen. I also told them to leave the muggleborn out of the school. The true muggleborn are only gifted in one area and do not have a magical core. I believe you have this information already so I won't repeat it." He was correct; this information had already been published in several of their books.

Sal took a sip of his tea and settled more comfortably in his seat before continuing. "I couldn't get a fix on what time line Becca settled in. In order to have an accurate fix, she needed to be in the past and future mirror, but she didn't have any contact with me. So I followed her to her last known location. I met Remus and Tonks at Prince Manor where I was sure I would find her, only to discover she had already left and moved on. We had to wait a few years before an open window into this time line was available. This is the first chance we have had to follow you here."

"How long has it been?" Harry asked.

"I received your letter about four years ago Harry. Tonks was not even pregnant at the time." Remy answered. "In fact, it wasn't until I took the cure that I could even think about having a relationship with her."

"Harry you really helped us out, Harry, we will never forget it." Tonks added to what her husband had said.

"If Becca hadn't come and saved me, we would not be having this conversation. We only did what we could." Harry replied. He didn't want thanks, he was just glad his Remus was here and he was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Remy was a Dad.

"So you two are married and you know Harry quite well from what I am seeing." The younger Remus stated as he leaned forward listening intently for the answer. "How do you know each other?"

Remy looked at Harry as Harry looked at him and then Harry stated, "That is something we will have to explain later. We can't say right now."

The younger Remus then looked at Becca, "So does this mean I am to marry the Tonks of this timeline? I have never understood the whole pairing thing and who we are meant to be with." Remus looked casually at Snape sitting in the corner. He actually would not mind a relationship with the man, but had held off because the older Severus was with Harry.

"No, it doesn't mean that at all." Becca stated trying to answer his question as best she could. "This timeline is different. Every thing we change here, changes the future. The Severus and Harry that came from the other place were perfect for each other. They had both suffered and grown up in war. They had similar experiences and could understand each other." Becca then focused over to Regulus and made a slight movement to bring the focus to him.

"Take Regulus sitting there. He was dead in the other timeline. Does that mean that he is not meant to find a life partner or have children? Of course not! His soulmate may also have been killed in the other timeline and we may rescue that person too. Or perhaps his soulmate had to settle for a different partner. We don't know that, but we do know things are not going to be the same." Becca explained to the group at large.

Remus nodded in response and settled back into his chair to continue listening to this unbelievable story.

Salazar then continued, "I arrived about two years ago at Prince Manor only to find I had missed Becca and was in the middle of a war. We kept the forces at bay, helping what people we could until the window presented itself. We then went to the time facility and followed you here." Salazar finished his story. Everyone knew there were more explanations to come and that was only the highlights of what happened.

"So what happened with Dumbledore?" Severus asked the older version of Remus.

"Well, after he lost Harry, the man became incensed. It was like he was a different person altogether. No one could understand anything he did. If I had not already read Harry's letters and the information left at Prince Manor, I would have thought he had lost his mind. But then, I think he lost his mind many years ago. He started looking for Harry and the only thing he could get from the Dursley's was a woman took him. So he went to the Weasleys and nearly destroyed the whole house trying to find him. I guess he thought that was the only woman Harry knew and it couldn't be anyone else." Remus paused and looked at Harry. "After I read the letters and journal, I started keeping tabs on him to see what he was doing. He started attacking almost anyone who might have known where you were. Tonks didn't come under suspicion because she was on a mission for the ministry aurors in Switzerland at the time you disappeared. Funny thing was, when she came back I had already taken the cure and showed her the letter. She was the only woman that knew where you were." He chuckled at the irony of the situation.

"I know he took Ronald and Ginny back to the school, but I don't know what happened to them after that. I couldn't keep tabs on his private quarters or his office. He tried to destroy Grimmauld Place when he couldn't get in and he attacked several of the Order members looking for Fawkes too." Remus paused before interruption himself, "You wouldn't know anything about that now would you?"

Harry smirked and pointed to the opposite side of the room in a corner where the magnificent fire phoenix was perched in rest. As if he knew they were talking about him, he ruffled his feathers and nodded in their direction before twisting his head back under his wing. "I guess I forgot to mention that in the other information. Fawkes was magically chained to his perch and we rescued him. Becca has some interesting ways of doing things. We will have to teach you later." He smiled at the memory of receiving Fawkes in the box that disrupted Dumbledore's magic.

"He wasn't happy about losing his bird, Harry." Remus smirked at his first cub and added. "Nope, not happy at all."

They were temporally distracted as Teddy grabbed his bear and said "Teddy… bear, Teddy… bear." The young tike lay down on the blanket and started sucking on his bottle as he held the stuffed bear and started to fall asleep.

"He's so cute Remy, and he seems to have inherited Tonks metamorphmagus abilities." Harry said while he watched the little one go to sleep as his hair turned from purple to brown and settling for green.

"Where is your son? You wrote that you were pregnant when you were rescued." Tonks wanted to know.

"Actually it's only been about four and a half months since I wrote the letter, so Becca is still pregnant. We traveled back far enough so he would be born about July 31st. the year here is 1980.

Remus and Tonks seemed to know the significance of the date but didn't say anything about it. The younger Remus, Snape and Regulus did not know why they chose that date and they had never been told that Harry was really a Potter.

"So what happened with Voldemort?" Harry wanted to know, but took notice as Snape cringed at the mention of his name. Harry had forgotten his was in the room. The man had sat quietly in a corner listening to the conversation and not making a sound. Harry knew there was some discomfort in the mark at the mention of the forbidden name. He sent an apologetic look Snape's way and waited for his answer.

"About a year after I got your letter, he went on the warpath. He killed his entire inner circle, trying to find out about his… artifacts… I would imagine. One of the Death Eaters was a werewolf that came for the cure and would keep us posted. We did not have the ability to remove the dark mark at the time."

"So that would mean the Malfoys and LaStranges were gone?" Severus wanted to know.

"Yes" Remy replied. "The inner circle and their families were all annihilated. As well as some of his other minions if he felt they were unfaithful." Remy sighed at the memory. Such a waste of magical power.

"He started attacking like never before and the muggles started fighting back. However, they didn't fight back with fists and guns; they fought with bombs and tanks. They blasted holes through our wards and didn't stop there. The muggle news reporters carried stories of space aliens from another planet and there was terror everywhere. That is how the end came eventually. Wizards killing each other for supremacy were one thing, but the destruction from the bombs was something else. We had no way of fighting that. One explosion was the equivalent of a hundred blasting curses at once."

Harry and Severus looked at each other and wondered the same thing. Would they be able to stop this from happening again? It seemed as if the fate of the universe hung on their success of this one task. A task that they had all bet their lives on and could not fail to accomplish, it was daunting to say the least.

"Why" Snape started to say, "do I get the feeling that there is something you are not telling us. I thought we were all in this together and were fighting for the same thing." The young man was obviously getting tired and snarky. Severus thought that maybe it was time to call it an evening as it was close the three in the morning. Everyone was starting to feel sleep deprived.

"There are many things you have not been told yet, but there are some things we cannot reveal. We are not allowed to change certain events, but can change many others. The events we cannot change we do not speak of; the other events are not here yet and will be divulged later. You will know all eventually, when the time is right." Becca told the young men in the room then added. "Please believe us, it is not that we do not trust you, it is just the way things need to be fore now.

Harry in order to change the subject looked at Becca and Salazar and asked "What about you two? You certainly seem to know each other well."

Becca's face turned a pretty shade of pink as Sal answered his query. "I have conversed with Becca since she was a small child. Although to go through time you have to wait for an open portal, you can see the past and future through a special mirror, the mirror of past and future. You can also converse with other Time Spirits. This allows you to adjust events to make sure of the outcome. When Becca grew older she and I both realized that we wanted to be together. However, we had to try to rectify the these events first. We could not be happy knowing we could have changed things and didn't at least try. We promised we would wait for each other and this is the first time we have met in person."

"We tried to stop the events we are currently in from happening from where we were. It could not be done from the mirrors and when I tried to stop some of it from my own time, the other founders did not agree with me. The best thing I could do was arrange with Gringotts to make sure I had appointed an heir that would use my money and other precious magical items wisely. Hence Harry was named as my heir and everything was put into trust."

Salazar saw the interest in what he was saying as he looked around the room. The younger Remus, Snape and Regulus were listening intently as if they didn't know some of this information. He did not want to disclose too much but didn't see what he was saying as a real threat, so he continued his story.

"It wasn't until many years later that the other founders finally took note of what I had been saying all along and changed their stance on muggleborn and squib born. However, it was too late to change things. The path of your current Dark Lord had already been set in that my sister had given birth to a set of twins. One had great magical power and the other had none. There was much sibling rivalry and a feud broke out. Needless to say, the one with the power, including parsletongue, was set on a path that we find ourselves on today. He was named my heir by his mother when I disappeared and left no children. She was not happy that I had taken steps to make sure my most precious possessions were secure. Her son only received what was left over; that which I didn't care about and only one vault with a few thousand galleons. The other squib child was bitter and did not want to be a part of our world." Salazar paused to get a sip of tea.

"I made sure that he would not get my money and years later after I left the other founders decided to duplicate my precautions and make sure Harry was named their heir, leaving the fate of Hogwarts to him. Finally realizing that what I said was correct and this point in time would be the crucial point of Wizarding history. They knew he would be able to settle the problems at hand and make a new future for the wizarding world."

"But why me? I never did understand that." Harry replied.

"Because you are the chosen one, Harry, you always have been." Salazar said softly.


	61. Salazar Learns Something New

Posted: 06 January 2010

Chapter 61: Salazar Learns Something New

It wasn't until nearly eleven the next morning that the members of the Prince household were blearily shuffling their way into the dining area. That is everyone looked bleary eyed except for Harry. The young Gryffindor was so ecstatic to have his old friends back he was still bouncing around. Severus merely groaned at the sight.

"Must you be so cheerful in the morning?" He asked in a very grumpy manner.

"But Remy and Tonks are here, and did you see their little boy. Wasn't he just the cutest thing?" Harry responded with that 'I am a morning person and love the world' type demeanor. Severus thought it was particularly sickening. But then he had gotten less sleep than the others just thinking about the other time line and worried about what Salazar's presence meant to them now.

He had grown fond of Becca and welcomed her into his family. Indeed, she was carrying his and Harry's child and he had not thought of her as having a spouse or moving on. She just had seemed to be an extension of his and Harry's life. Now it seemed as if all of that was changing. What if she wanted to leave them and let them raise the children on their own and make a new life with Slytherin? Could they do this alone? What were the chances of success without her? He groaned at the headache his spiraling thoughts were exacerbating.

He carefully replaced his mask of expressions when the subjects of said thoughts entered the room. Becca came in from her bedroom, dressed and ready for the day and then Lord Slytherin came in right behind her. They sat down at the dining table together and were in an intense conversation that only the two of them could hear.

From what he could see, if there had not been some kind of privacy bubble you could have heard them across the manor. He wanted to know what was going on so he sent a little spell their way to break the bubble.

"...how you could have experimented with UNSTABLE transference magic at a time like that. You could have killed yourself and then where would we be." Salazar was shouting to the younger woman. "You cannot control that kind of power and I bet you didn't even tell them how dangerous it would be for you to try it. Have you no sense woman!"

"ENOUGH" Severus shouted into the room. "What is going on here that we have to have all this dissention so early in the morning?"

Becca got a cheeky grin on her face and said, "A Sev? It's not early in the morning, it's almost noon."

"I suggest you sit down now, young lady!" Severus did not want to deal with all this drama today. He had a headache from all the questions running around in his head and now he had to settle an argument between the two people that created the pain in the first place.

"Now, what is all of this racket about?" Severus asked sternly as if he were reprimanding one of his former students.

"Sal is upset about the fetus transfer. He says I took unnecessary risks." Becca said quietly as the elf put her morning snack of pickles and dipping chocolate in front of her. She always ate that when she was upset.

"I was not upset about the fetus transfer." Salazar stated evenly, the evidence of his discord in his voice. "I was upset about the RECKLESS use of borrowed magic to do it. You don't have the power to keep it stabilized! You could have killed yourself!"

"I didn't have a choice. There was no other option. He was dying!"

"Why didn't you take Doc with you when you went to that muggle home? He could have done it with just a few simple instructions."

"I didn't know I would need him for that, remember, it was not meant to happen!"

"And that's the other thing I have an issue with. I am willing to bet, you didn't tell your Grandfathers how much power you were borrowing to send the dreams either."

"There was no need to worry them." Becca retorted to Salazar's more than accurate accusation.

"There was EVERY reason to worry them. You can't sustain borrowed power. You know that. It was a dangerous stunt and I don't want you doing it again." Salazar interjected to refute her statement.

"Fine, I won't do it again!" Becca almost shouted to the aristocrat. "It's over and we don't have to worry about it again."

"What is going on here?" Severus and Harry had been watching the exchange like watching a tennis match with their heads going back and forth to keep up with who was shouting at whom.

It was Salazar that turned to answer him. "I understand that Becca needed to interfere and get both of you here, but borrowed power is not stable with her diminished core and she could have caused an explosion and/or killed herself trying to do things by herself without seeking the proper help." Severus thought that sounded like someone else he knew.

"Alright," Becca said "but nothing happened and everything turned out fine."

"Just don't do it again, I like you better in one piece." Salazar said.

Severus looked at Becca and asked, "Why is it we are just hearing about this. You could have used one of us or the elves to help."

"Severus, I usually do have an elf to help me or I would have brought someone else to help. I was not expecting Harry to be pregnant, so I didn't arrange any contingencies in case he was. I have already said I am sorry; please don't make an issue of this. Someone else already has and it's giving me a headache." She glared at Salazar as she spoke that last sentence.

Salazar watched as Becca dipped her pickle in the chocolate sauce sitting on the table in a sort of fascinated horror.

Harry grimaced as he too watched, as he did on every occasion he saw this, and said, "You know that can't be healthy for the baby. How can you eat that?"

"If it wasn't healthy for the baby, I would not be craving it. The baby likes it. It calms him down." Becca smirked as her words took on a pious tone before she took an extra big bite of the concoction.

Salazar, Severus and Harry all groaned at the site just as Regulus and the Lupin family came into the dining room.

"So what are we having for breakfast?" Regulus asked as he walked into the room. Then he noticed what Becca was eating and turned to Tonks and said, "I think we should go somewhere else and eat. I don't know if I can watch Becca eat and hold down my breakfast at the same time."

Tonks looked over his shoulder to the woman in question and laughed. "You should be glad you weren't there when I was pregnant for Teddy. I was much worse."

The food was set on the sideboard so everyone could serve themselves and then sit at the table. There was a mixture of breakfast and lunch items as it was closer to noon than anyone realized. As they all served themselves, Harry noticed that Sal had asked Becca what she wanted and he fixed her plate. There was a grimace on his face at the combination of foods that no one would dare touch. As they talked and ate Harry and Severus tried to get the older Remus and Tonks up to date about the company and the facility they were currently housed in.

As they were walking around taking a tour, First Born and Sixth Born followed.

"Uh, Harry? What's with the snakes?" Remus asked cautiously as he picked up Teddy before he could 'pet' one of the creatures.

The child just pointed at the slithering creatures on the floor and said "Pretty".

"They won't hurt him Remy. They are part of a group called The Seven and this is First Born, he is my familiar." He said as he picked up the snake from the floor to drape around his neck. "The other is Sixth Born; I guess they decided to come along to make sure we would be safe. I wonder where the others are. Of course they may have come along because Sal is here. He was their mother's master."

"Didn't you tell me that snake you killed in second year was the familiar of Slytherin? Then that would make these BASILISKS? You have basilisks here where my son is housed? Harry! What are you thinking?" Remus suddenly realized how much danger they were in if the snakes decided to stare at them and kill them.

"Relax Remy, they won't hurt us. They can turn off the killing feature and they come in handy if someone breaches the wards. You should have seen Malfoy and Snape the first time they put in an appearance here uninvited. All seven snakes were guarding them when the younger you had to portkey in several werewolves because they were attacked. They were being administered the cure potion when Fenrir and his cronies attacked the group. The younger you had to use the emergency portkeys and Snape and Malfoy just so happened to be there. I think both men stood still and didn't move a muscle for hours while waiting for us to finish tending the injured." Harry laughed at the memory.

"Well, quite the little set up you have here. Can we speak freely now that Regulus has left for work? I am at a loss as to what to do now that I am here. We can't exactly go out and work or help the order. We are not supposed to be seen if I remember the rules correctly, although arriving in the middle of your party wasn't exactly a subtle move."

"We have the means to establish identities for you. We have contacts at some of the foreign ministries that can help. Gorbink is really good at that sort of thing too. We can get you set up don't worry. The not being seen rule doesn't exactly apply in this case so you don't have to stay hidden. You will have to decide what you want to do though. Does Tonks still want to be an auror or a stay at home Mom? Do you want to teach or do something else? It will be over a year and a half before Harry Potter defeats Voldemort so we have plenty of time to figure out what you want to do. You always have a job at Prince Conglomerate too."

"Harry, I have already accepted more of your help than you know, I don't want to be a burden on your resources here."

"It is not a burden to hire a good employee that will bring more fruition to our labors." Severus said. He was standing next to Harry with an arm around the younger man's waist. "We need good employees that we can trust and I think you have proven that much."

"Really Remy, you were an Order member and maybe you have some insight as to how to get Dumbledore off our backs. Also we want to save more of the Order members that died during the first war. What about the Boneses and the Prewitts or even Marlene McKenna and her family. These are all people you might be able to help. We could even help the Longbottoms so they don't end up in St Mungo's forever. There is plenty to do and we are trying to end the war with Harry Potter defeating Voldemort the first time. That is the only thing we are not allowed to change. It was one of the conditions of us coming here."

"Alright, that is enough talking shop." Becca interjected. She thought they all needed a little break from work and she could see little Teddy was bored with the adult talk around them. "What we really need is to go shopping. Sal needs some different clothes to be able to mingle in public. I say we take the tunnel and go to the mall. Severus, you are about his size, can you lend him something muggle to wear?"

Severus smirked at the shocked look on Salazar Slytherin's face. Evidently he did not agree with Becca's suggestion, but when she pointed out she was going anyway he acquiesced and told her to lead the way.

Shopping was a whole lot different than when he was younger. Salazar was in awe at the muggle shops all bunched together, one on top of the other, in what Becca called a mall. They had taken that little cart to the secret entrance of the stores and ridden the lift into the shopping mall. Now Becca had him trying on trainers of all things. He didn't like them; they were bulky and looked funny on his feet and yet they were comfortable to stand in. But the young woman said they were a must have in any human's wardrobe.

They went everywhere and shopped for hours. Becca wanted Tonks and Remus and Teddy to all have new clothes to wear so they could go out and circulate in the neighborhood. She had already had one of the few empty houses assigned to them and they were going to be able to live as muggles but also as witches and wizards when under the house in their private quarters. Much the same as Regulus had.

The next day, a strange man came to their door. Becca had called him to teach them all how to… Drive a car. Salazar looked at the contraption in the driveway and sighed. He really didn't want to familiarize himself in so much muggle technology. It was much easier and faster to just floo or apparate. Why did Becca want to get him to learn this? Even Severus said he didn't really have a license to drive and neither did Harry.

They were put on the list for driving instructions with the rest of the group.

If the driving instructor thought it strange that so many men in their late teens and mid thirties, in the case of Sal and Severus, were getting instruction for the first time he didn't say anything.

It was a month before all the men were proficient at it. Becca just laughed at them and kept reminding them it could be detrimental to their lives if they could not hide in the muggle world, and that included driving. Even Regulus, younger Remus and Snape were taken in hand and taught. Becca and Tonks laughed at them and told them it was all part of their training.

One day after a particular hard day for Sal, Becca giggled at him and said "You know, it just seems strange that the few women we have here already know how to do this and all the men don't." He then considered it a challenge of the sexes and learned very quickly after that. Tonks had been great company for Becca and she liked her a lot. Tonks had learned to drive from her Dad who was muggle raised. Everyone had thought Mr. Tonks was muggleborn, but his parents were squibs too.

One sunny afternoon, Tonks and Becca had gone in the car to the plant nursery to get some bulbs and flower seeds for the front of the properties. They wanted to make their little front yards more muggle friendly and decided they needed some color.

At the nursery Becca stumbled on a woman berating a young man that seemed to be slightly mentally challenged. He had dropped her bag of fertilizer and some of it spilled on the floor. The woman was actually threatening to fire him.

Becca, who could not stand abuse in any form, was very upset to see the young man take the verbal abuse from this woman. Evidently she was the shop owner and had hired the boy to do small chores around the shop because he was her nephew. After the woman left, Becca went up to the young man.

"Do you think you could help me with some plants?" she asked. "We want to plant some flowers at our new homes." She looked at him and then held out her hand. "My name is Becca and this is my friend Tonks. We live a few streets away on Privet Drive. What's your name?"

"My name is Buddy, everyone calls me Buddy." The young man shook her hand with quite a strong grip and then said in a whisper. "You're friend has funny hair to go with her funny name."

Tonks who overheard the last comment laughed at what he said and replied "Yes I do, but it is what makes me special."

"How would you like to come work for us Buddy? We need someone to help plant the gardens." Becca offered. She really wanted to give him a job and get him away from that woman that didn't appreciate him. In her opinion, she was just using him like a house elf and most of them were treated better than that.

"I live with others like me." The young man said slowly. "I have to get… per…per… permish…"

"Permission?" Becca supplied the word for him.

"Yeah, that from the house dir… direc… oh like the boss." Buddy supplied his own word that time in a slightly frustrated tone. But Becca didn't take offense, she knew what it was like to have a hard time expressing one's self.

Becca took a card out of her pocket and handed it to the young man. "Give this to your director and tell him we want to hire you. Can you do that for us Buddy?"

"Yes Miss, I can do that." Buddy replied, again speaking slowly.

"Good, put that in your pocket and don't forget. For now, we will take this tray of flowers and we also need some gardening tools."

As Becca and Tonks started piling up items on their list, Buddy helped them to put it all in the car. When they were finished Becca again admonished him to remember to give his Director her card and call her about wanting to hire him. From what she gathered, he lived at a home for the mentally challenged and one of the conditions was that they had to work. The job with his aunt was the only one he could find.

When they returned home, the men had to unload the car without magic. Harry seemed to be the only one who knew what was going on as the others just grumbled at how heavy everything was (especially the bags for mulch for the garden) and not being able to use magic. When Becca pointed out that they could use a wandless featherweight charm to lighten their load and move the things with less effort they groaned about muggle work.

When they started moaning about the amount of work it was going to take to plant all the stuff they had brought back, Becca then interrupted their rant with the news that she was hiring someone to do the yards on a regular basis. When she explained about the home and hiring the young man from the shop, Salazar was a little leery, but Harry knew about the home and thought it was an excellent idea.

Later that evening the Director of the home called Becca's phone and asked her about the work she had for Buddy. He had explained that Buddy had been unhappy working for his aunt but that was the only thing they had found him so far. Becca then explained that it would be several houses that needed gardening work on a regular basis. She would supply all the tools and then gave him references so they agreed that Buddy could start work the next day. It was his day off from his aunt's shop and they needed to get the flowers planted as soon as possible.

Of course she didn't tell him she was a witch and could cast a preservation charm on the little plants she had bought that day. She was happy to be helping someone in the neighborhood and establishing friends among the muggles. It would be needed later when the children got older.


	62. Reports in Other Sectors

Posted: 09 January 2010

Chapter 62: Reports in Other Sectors

Lucius knew if he didn't report what happened, he could be the next deceased Lord Malfoy. Something of this magnitude would not escape the Dark Lord's attention. The only problem was what to tell him. How did one go about telling the greatest living Dark Lord that not only was he not the heir of Slytherin, but Slytherin himself was here in this time and considered a member of the Prince family to be his heir? He didn't realize that he meant Harry Potter would be his heir and there were two of them, he also didn't realize he was talking about other time lines.

Now, how to tell that infernal narcissistic bastard, who was acting less and less human by the day, about Lord Slytherin? He really needed to speak to Snape and see what they could come up with. They had originally been assigned this project together and he needed to make an appearance before that mad man soon.

Lucius was concerned about the unexpected guests at the party. Not only was Lord Slytherin a shocker but the other male looked suspiciously like an older careworn Lupin. He didn't really care so much about the person, but why an older Remus Lupin? What would cause such a thing? There was something at the back of his mind, like something he forgot and wanted to remember. But every time he tried to find the memory, it escaped from his grasp and he couldn't get to it.

It was several days later that he was finally able to reach Snape and ask for a meeting. When the younger man put in an appearance at the manor, Lucius was shocked to find out he had been learning to drive a muggle car. Of all the nonsense he had heard, why they would need to drive a muggle anything was beyond him. He did not consider it a viable option to be able to move around in the muggle world for more than a few hours. It was ridiculously atrocious and he wanted to hear no more about it. But as Snape told him Slytherin was doing the same thing, he formed his plan.

The next day...

Lucius apperated to where the Dark Lord was reported to be staying for the time being. As he approached that sniveling little rat, Peter Pettigrew, he demanded an audience with the Dark Lord.

Lucius was finally granted entrance to the ball room of the Lestrange Manor where the half-blood had been staying. He entered the room where Voldemort was sitting in a raised chair as if on a royal throne. His glassy red eyes were piercing and he didn't look happy to have his day interrupted.

"My Lord," Lucius said as he bowed before the man. He was hoping he would not be given too much trouble as Snape was not there to report with him. "I have come with news from Snape about Prince Publishing.

"It has been several months since I have heard from you both. I hope," he said this with a snarl, "this information was worth the wait." As Lucius was still bowing, he could just make out the twitching of the wand in the man's hand as if waiting for the right moment or justification to do its worst.

"My Lord, there was a celebration of sorts at an undisclosed location. People were portkeyed in with untraceable portkeys. As everyone arrived the security was very strict, but Snape and several others were introduced as having gotten their Master's Certifications in several subjects and it was announced that Prince Publishing would now make their own text books for school age children. It seems that this was their purpose all along. To make their company name known so they could sell their text books. I know they have contacts in other foreign ministries and will likely sell them to other magical schools as well as Hogwarts.

"What makes these people think they will succeed? It would take years to write and publish new books. Snape will not be with them that long, but it was nice of them to pay for his education." Voldemort smirked.

"They had some visitors there and one of them was impersonating Lord Slytherin. I am assuming they are going to use impersonators for the other Hogwarts founders as well to publicize their books. This will create the popularity needed to sell the books above the others out there. It is what is known as a publicity stunt." Lucius said dryly.

"Impersonators of the founders? I don't know why they think they can get away with that. Why would they choose to have a Lord Slytherin impersonator?" Voldemort queried.

"The room was full of purebloods, mostly blood traitors, but purebloods none the less. It may also be that it was the first person they found that had a vague resemblance to him. They will probably continue in this fashion, so I wanted to report this before rumors came to you about the real Lord Slytherin being around. Snape told me yesterday that he is being closely watched and unless you needed him, he would retain his cover to find out more information on the matter. He also said yesterday that the Slytherin imposter was learning how to drive a muggle car." Upon saying the last sentence, Lucius Malfoy put just the right amount of incredulousness inflected in his voice to show how utterly ridiculous the whole thing was.

Voldemort burst out laughing when he heard this. "You mean to tell me they want people to believe the real Lord Slytherin showed up from some kind of time travel, and is familiar with the muggle world. How can they even believe it? He was a staunch supporter of ousting muggles from our world." Voldemort started the hissing snake like laugh again, but when he calmed down he looked and said, "Thank you Lucius, you have eased my mind that these people are completely incompetent."

"You are most welcome, my Lord." Lucius bowed again as he started to take his leave, relieved that he was going to escape without being hexed as was the Dark Lord's way, when he was summoned back.

"Lucius, you will tell Snape to stay and report any other information he feels pertinent. He did most excellent on his Potions Mastery testing and I will want him back in my lab soon, but for now we shall see what these people are up to. Also Lucius, you failed to let me know you were going to a celebration for these people. You will not make that mistake again. I want to know what is planned before it happens, not after. For that you must be punished."

Lucius cringed as the curse hit him in his side and he doubled over. He fell to the floor and cried out before the Dark Lord released it.

"You may go now and next time, don't take so long to bring me information." he was told as he slowly limped his way out of the door.

On his way out, Wormtail was waiting on the other side of the door with a look of glee on his face. He just loved it when the others were given the curse instead of him. As the sniveling rat closed the door of the 'throne room', Lucius stood up straight and tall and sneered at the rat animagus and walk out of there with all the grace and poise befitting a Malfoy, the ever present smirk on his face.

He had no trouble apparating back to Malfoy Manor and to his waiting wife and children. As he related the meeting to Narcissa, she smiled and asked him if he was alright. He was in the process of removing his Death Eater robes and the scaly robe underneath.

"I am fine my dear and I do believe we should let the others know what has transpired. I also don't want you to venture out anywhere without your special robes on. He seems to be more desperate and inhuman than before. Maybe we could have a meeting with the travelers soon and find out some more of how they came to be here."

"The next ladies' social club meeting is to be here as I have problems moving around too much with the baby due not even a month away. The meeting in planned for next week. Maybe we could get some of the men to come and let us know what is going on?" Narcissa told her husband as he wrapped his arms around her.

"We shall plan on it" was his reply before going into the adjoining nursery to watch the twins sleep. He was glad to be alive and on a better side of the war. He also owed much to the people that saved his twin daughters' magic. He hugged Narcissa again and looked at her bare arm. They had decided several months ago to have the mark removed as many of the pregnant ladies had done. His son would be strong, he could feel it and he would not have to worry about the pureblood imposter that wanted to be lord over all the magical world.

In Godric's Hollow at the Potter household....

"Why do you insist on these silly pranks all the time?" A familiar auburn headed witch moaned at her messy haired husband after she came from the kitchen with blue hair. "You will be sleeping outside if you don't watch it. I am not in the mood for this foolishness."

"It wasn't me darling," he said honestly then pointed to the corner of the room. There sat Sirius Black, their best friend and the future godfather of their child. He was grinning from ear to ear and had his wand in his hand. The harmless prank had obviously been his, but he forgot Lily's hormones were in overdrive and she was not amused.

"Awe, come on Lils, it was just a little joke." said the handsome dark haired man. "Alright, I promise no more jokes. Not even a little one." There he goes, Lily thought, now we get to see the puppy dog eyes. Next would be the transformation to the puppy dog. She was always a sucker for a nice cute cuddly dog.

"How about you stay for dinner and we will discuss it." Lily offered before he want in for the kill with the doggy licks and tail wagging.

"Sure, I don't have anywhere to be tonight." he said secretly glad to be invited to dinner.

An hour later, with Lily's hair turned back to its golden auburn, they sat down for dinner. The topics of conversation were centered around the war effort and what they thought Dumbledore's next move would be; how James and Sirius were dealing with the aurors and the nursery for the baby.

When dinner was over, Lily brought Sirius and James upstairs to see what she had done so far with the small room that would be the nursery. The walls were already painted in a soft blue and the crib and changing table were already installed. In the corner was a small wardrobe for the baby's clothes and shelving against one wall for books and toys. His trunk that Remus had given them was stored at the foot of the crib just waiting to be filled with what ever the child would want to play with.

"I see you still have the trunk Remus gave you for little Harry. Aren't you worried about it?" Sirius was actually sort of jealous that the werewolf was doing better than him at that new company of his. It wasn't right that they lose touch and all of a sudden Remus was wearing nice clothes and working for a company few had heard of. He didn't trust it, it was too coincidental. One day Remus was an out-of-work werewolf the next day he was cured and an executive for an unknown company. True, said company was getting better known all the time, but it didn't feel right. He had already spoken with Dumbledore several times about them, and the old man didn't like it either. "I heard that were some problems with those trunks."

"A goblin came and added new features to it and it couldn't be safer. They personally went and re-warded all the trunks that had been issued. I have no problems with it." Lily said. She knew it was a sore spot with the two men in the room, that their friend appeared to be doing better than them. He grew up and these two were still pulling childish pranks all the time. But they were in with the aurors and in the Order of the Phoenix and were growing up. Especially James, now that the baby was coming. It seems upcoming fatherhood was a great life teacher.

Sirius looked at the books on the shelf and started reading, "Lullabies for the Young Witch or Wizard by Prince Publishing" he picked up the next one, "Papa Merlin's Fairytales for the Young and Old, by Prince Publishing." He looked at Lily and then back at the shelf, "Tales of Old for the Young Witch or Wizard by Prince Publishing." then he sighed and picked up the next one "Teaching of the Old Ways by Prince Publishing." Sirius got a pensive look on his face and gave Lily a scornful look. "Don't you think you need some other reading material? You are not raising a pureblood and don't want to teach the old ways. Why would you buy something like this? Aren't there other publishers out there that you can buy books from? Why these?"

"Really Sirius, you should read them. They are quite brilliant. The titles don't mean what you think and I didn't buy them, well except the one of lullabies. Remus gave them to me when he brought the trunk. I am hoping the author will visit Diagon Alley soon so I can get them autographed. I haven't been out of the house in a while and don't travel too much because I can't apparate anymore until after the baby is born. I thought I might take the Knight Bus into the Alley next week for some shopping and perhaps have lunch with Remus. Maybe he could have them signed." Lily sort of drifted off thinking about seeing her old friend again. She wondered what had happened to some of her other friends as well. She hadn't really spoken to Severus Snape since the mudblood incident and often regretted not making amends.

"You need to stay away from those people. At the last Order meeting Dumbledore said they were not willing to align themselves with the light side. Now I look at these books and can see why. They are obviously doing something underhanded with the Death Eaters. That would be the only reason they would not grant Dumbledore a visit with them. Some of these books look like they are trying to teach the old pureblood ways. The same load of crap my parents were trying to teach me from the cradle." Sirius was snarling again. Lily shook her head and tried to reason with him.

"There are plenty of Witches and Wizards that have remained neutral. That does not mean these people are dark. Sirius, really, do you even hear what you are spewing out that mouth of yours?"

"They are already involved in the war. They were involved the minute they wrote that book. I am telling you Lils, you need to be very careful." She could see that Sirius was very persistent about this, so she replied to him to lighten the mood.

"Are you being serious, Sirius?" That statement was always good for a laugh.

However he didn't take the bait, he just look at her with a solemn expression and said, "I just know that I haven't seen my brother nor my mother and once a Death Eater always a Death Eater."

"Sirius, your Mother is not a Death Eater." Lily reminded him.

"Maybe not; but she supports that pureblood crap and she favors my brother's activities. I recon he must be on some secret assignment for that mad man. No one I know has seen or heard from him since before Christmas. He could even be dead for all I know." Lily could tell her friend was worried about his brother, even if he was a Death Eater, he was still family.

"Have you asked Remus? He said he saw him on Christmas Day. Maybe he knows what he is doing or where he is."

"Actually Lily" the young man said gravely, "I am afraid that if Remus knows where my brother is, it means he is involved with our enemies as well."

Lily didn't have an answer for him, at least not one he would be willing to accept. She secretly thought that the people Remus worked for had an agenda of their own, but were still not on Voldemort's side. She put her arms around her friend and walked with him back down the stairs and into the living room where they spent the remainder of the evening talking.

The next day, in a castle far away in Scotland...

An old man with a long, nearly white, beard was sitting at this desk looking at the two gentlemen in front of him. Both of them had red hair and were his best fighters out there. They were discussing some of the mysteries surrounding Prince Conglomerate and the company's refusal to grant him a visit. It really wasn't that they refused, they just would not respond in anyway, negative or positive, to his requests for a meeting with the owners. Almost like his owls were not getting through, although the letters never came back.

"We need to find out more about these people. Do either of you know anything or have you heard anything about them?" He asked the two men in front of him.

"Our sister Molly was telling us about some renovations on their house and something called a mini-floo. She floo called us yesterday and talked for quite a long time while she was holding the new baby. I don't know how she was kneeling on the floor for that length of time. Usually when we hear from her it's for a few minutes at most. You know they have six children now and floo powder is somewhat expensive" Explained the redhead on the right.

"She said the mini-floo was designed so she could talk while sitting. She asked us to come over and look at it, and there were people coming there tomorrow from the Dailey Prophet to take pictures." Said the redhead on the left.

"You obviously have not been reading the Prophet in recent months." Dumbledore acknowledged. "It came out in the paper at the end of January or beginning of February in the advertisement section. The mini-floo is an inglenook attached to your fireplace so you can make floo calls sitting or standing. It is small so they call it mini. It is quite expensive and I would not think Molly and Arthur could afford something like that."

"Evidently Prince Conglomerate gave them the floo system to try out and help publicize it. Perhaps Molly will have some insight to the company. As you know we have been out of the country for a few months so we are due for a visit. She's got to know something if she has been working for them."

"Excellent suggestion Fabian! I will look forward to hearing what you come up with. How about we meet here, say the day after tomorrow at ten-thirty in the morning? I have a meeting with one of my staff at nine and classes will be in session and the halls should be empty at the time."


	63. New Plans Formed

Posted: 10 January 2010

Chapter 63: New Plans Formed

It had taken a few weeks, but Remus, Tonks and Salazar were finally brought up to date and had spent a good deal of time in the 'war room'. Even with the time displacement enchantments it took awhile as Remus and Tonks didn't want to spend more than a few hours away from Teddy. He was in a strange place and didn't know the people well. Of course Teddy seemed to have adapted better than his parents as he was allowed to play with all kinds of toys and his new friend Sixth Born.

Remus was not happy about this development, but he could see that although Teddy was not a parslemouth, the snake would push the toys around for him and had a sort of sixth sense about what he wanted. Teddy would roll the ball and Sixth Born would roll it back by swatting it with his tail. If Teddy wanted the bear Harry had made for him the snake would go find it and push it or drag it back to the little boy. He had actually gotten to where he would call the snake "Sisth" and the snake would come and appear before Teddy and the two year old would laugh and laugh.

After the recent time travelers had finished with the information in the war room, Salazar asked Becca for a meeting to discuss what was needed next. They were all in the dinning room with Doc and Gorbink as well as the others including Snape and the younger Lupin.

"Well" Becca said as she looked around the room, "it seems as if our little group is getting bigger and bigger everyday." She looked at the three new comers and sighed. "Alright, let's hear the questions and we will try to give you as many answers as possible."

The older Remus was the first one to speak. "First we need to do something about my name. We can't have two Remus Lupins in this time and not get confused so we need to decide what to do."

"I suggest we call you Remy or Remus Sr. and the other Remus Jr." Harry said, "Muggles do it all the time by naming their children after their parents, especially the men. Either that or we can change your name to Romulus, but I think I would still call you Remy." Harry finished cheekily.

It was the younger Remus that answered. "You guys can just call me Moony and we could keep our original names. My Father is already gone, so it could be said that the older Remus is my father who just returned to this area after several years abroad." He looked at the older man and could see that life had been hard for him. He didn't want to speculate all the trials the man must have suffered, especially if he was not cured until recently and had been through this war and another. He wondered if Snape felt this odd every time he was in the present of the other Severus. He hoped he could get familiar with it in time.

Remus Sr. leaned forward to the younger man and held out his hand. "It is most agreeable to make your acquaintance Remus Jr." Everyone at the table laughed at the antics of the older man. Remus Jr. shook hands with his time traveling counterpart and smiled for the first time since coming into the room. Yes, he could get used to being around the man and perhaps he would help with some of the werewolves.

"Alright now that we have that out of the way, what are the other questions you have?" Becca asked.

Salazar was the one that spoke next, "There seems to be a multitude of information after October 31, 1981, but not much before that. Do you know what is going on now with the two wizards that are hell-bent on their own agenda?"

"I can only tell you that we are here too soon. Harry and Severus created a child several years earlier than in any other time line. We had to transfer the fetus to save Harry and the baby. We decided to raise the child with the other one we are to acquire. It was not planned so I didn't reference all the information before leaving." Becca turned to Salazar to address him personally. "I also don't know where the time mirror is in this time line, so I can't check on events as they happen."

"There should be a time mirror at Hogwarts in my chambers. We just need to arrange for Dumbledore to be busy and I can get in there and get it." Salazar then turned to everyone else at the table. "A time mirror is a device that can only be used by a Time Spirit. It allows for the seeing of the past in different time lines. It is how we know where catastrophic events occur and gives us the opportunity to change them. Since I have been the only known person able to do this up until now, I was in possession of it. Every time line has only one and only one is needed in every time line.

"How did you find it in the first place?" Severus asked.

"I only stumbled upon it when traveling before Hogwarts was founded. It was in Egypt, so I am assuming that somewhere in Egypt's ancient past there was another Time Spirit. However, I have never been able to confirm that."

Severus then turned to the goblin at the table. "Gorbink, do you think we can find a way to keep the headmaster busy so Sal can get into his chambers?"

"We can do what ever needs to be done as soon as you say the word. I think we can audit Hogwarts books soon, but we may have more of a chance after school ends its session. That way the students won't get a look at you accidentally and think you are Lord Slytherin come to haunt them. Lucius Malfoy is on the Board of Governors for the school. Ask him to request the audit."

"Getting in unseen is not the problem, it's getting in undetected. I can get in through the Chamber's secret exit in the Forbidden Forest, but the wards may alert Dumbledore that there is an intruder. I don't know if he found out about the chamber and placed wards around it although he could never get in it. He may also have some sort of wards around the forest to detect human life forms entering it."

"We have a bigger problem than that." Harry said. "Whose-its-whats-it put the basilisk under some sort of spell when he was a student there. He killed the father of The Seven and did some kind of mind control on their mother. It's why the snake attacked Moaning Myrtle. It's also why it attacked several students in my second year, although I don't think that will happen now."

"Who is Whose-its-whats-it?" Salazar asked, clearly puzzled by the title although it looked like Remus Sr. caught on just fine.

"You know, Tom Riddle. Snape still has the mark so we don't use his pseudonym. I just use Whose-its-whats-it, or What-his-name instead. I refuse to call him You-know-who."

Salazar just shook his head at the boy's antics. I mean really, why not just call him Tom Riddle?

"So what do we know without the mirror? Who knows what those two wizards are up to?" Salazar asked. "I am assuming that" he looked at Harry "Tom, will have power over my familiar until he dies. At least that is the theory I am going with because to assume anything better than the worst is going to get us in trouble."

"I have knowledge of what happened from the Dark Lord's side, but not everything" said Severus. Harry poked him in the ribs for the stupid reference.

"And I have knowledge from Dumbledore's side. I was in the Order of the Phoenix in the first war." Remus Sr. interjected.

"Good, we can use that for now and reassess the situation later. If I need to, I can try and move my base of operation to the chamber and use the castle mirrors to keep tabs on… What did you call him? The old coot. I'll just have to do something about Lashisa." Salazar was almost thinking out loud instead of addressing everyone in the room.

They talked for another hour, lunch being served by an ever present elf. Teddy woke from his nap and was having a fun time climbing on everyone's lap and showing off Sixth Born, who was now around his neck like First Born was always hanging on Uncle Harry. Then when they were about to adjourn the meeting, Severus had something else to ask them.

"I know you want to leave, but we have one more thing we need to discuss." Severus took Harry's hand in his and said, "Harry and I want to be married before Becca gives birth in about two and a half months. We would like everyone to come and we will need to figure out how to do this without anyone else knowing. I don't want to draw attention to ourselves or the company at this time."

"OOOHHHH" Becca got all excited. "I think we should have the wedding in the pool room. We could enhance the decorations that Harry and the elves already put in there. We just have to get someone to officiate."

"Any of the goblins could do a civil ceremony. I could do it now if you wish, but if you want a true wizard bonding service, you would need to get one of the Lords to do one. I know several, but there is the security question." Gorbink informed them.

"I can do the wizard bonding, but I think Lord Salazar Slytherin on an official ministry document would raise some questions."

"What about Malfoy? He is a Lord and he can officiate." Snape said.

"I wouldn't feel right about it until I released the information I warded from his memory." Severus answered back.

"I would think with Lord Slytherin here, he would be agreeable to almost anything now. He follows power and there is no doubt that your group has more than anyone else."

"Our group, you are a member too. Lucius is young, I don't know if he knows the proper bonding ceremony. He also has a child coming in another month or so. It might not be a good time for him."

"I could do the bonding ceremony, one of the old ones from my time and Lucius could sign off as officiate. Then we wouldn't have the needed risk of security breaches and the wedding could take place anytime you are ready. We don't even have to tell Lord Malfoy until the day of the ceremony, that way no one will know."

Severus, who was still holding Harry's hand, said, "Does that meet with your approval, love? How many wizards can say they were bonded by Lord Slytherin?"

Harry grinned and replied back to Sal, "We would be honored to have you do the bonding Lord Slytherin."

After that the meeting broke up and everyone went their separate ways.

In Ottery St Catchpole…

Fabian and Gideon Prewett were just arriving at the Burrow when they came face to face with a dozen reporters and photographers. The entrance to the house was blocked as Molly and Arthur were directing the group to a smaller house next to the main on. This house was about on third the size of the family home, but they heard Molly say that refreshments were being served in the guest house. So everyone turned around and followed them to the smaller building.

"When did they get a guest house?" Fabian asked his brother.

"I didn't know anything about it. Maybe it was set up by those Prince people Albus was complaining about. But if they did this for our sister, I don't know what they want in return." It wasn't unusual for a Gryffindor to do something extraordinary, but most of the old pureblood families with money were Slytherins. They seemed to have a special ability to make money and know when not to spend it. No one gets something for nothing with a Slytherin.

When they entered the guesthouse, they were amazed at the sparse but comfortable and obviously expensive furnishings. Someone had placed enough chairs in the room to accommodate everyone that came. They watched from the back as Molly cast a slight sonorous charm on herself before addressing the media.

"Attention everyone, I would like to demonstrate the mini-floo for you and then I will answer any questions you may have." Everyone quieted down as she made her way to the fireplace.

"Now as you can see, we have a regular floo here and if I want to make a floo call, I have to get the floo powder and get down close enough to the flames to talk unless I want to shout into the fire." She demonstrated and called Arthur who had stayed in the house. "As you can see, the visual image is not always clear and it is awkward to have a lengthy conversation. Especially if you are the mother of six children."

Everyone laughed at her comment about children, several of the reporters nodding their head in understanding.

"Now, if I want to make a call, I simply go over here next to the large floo and press against this panel." She pressed against an indentation in the wall and a smaller replica of the large fireplace came into view.

"I can adjust the height so that I can talk while sitting or standing like so." She then pushed up or down on the small hearth to adjust the height. "Then I press this button and out comes a measured amount of floo powder." When she pushed the button a small a bit of floo powder dropped into the flame and she was connected with Arthur again, but this time the voice was clearer and you could see him better.

"The measured service means no waste and once you are connected you can talk for an hour before needing more floo powder. Because of the smaller size of the floo, you also get better sound and a better picture of the person you are talking to. It actually saves money because you use a lot less floo powder to get your call made."

"I know some of you have seen this before, but some of you haven't and Prince Conglomerate wanted you to have a chance to ask questions from someone who really uses the product on a daily basis."

"Is someone from Prince here today?" One of the reporters asked.

"I am from Prince Builders and can answer the questions that Mrs. Weasley may not be able to." Said a gentleman from the rear of the room.

"And what is your name?"

"I am Vince Warpal."

"What do you do for the company?"

"I help with the advertising and public relations."

"Why did they send you instead of one of the Prince family?"

"I do not believe that pertains to the mini-floo, but I have been authorized to tell you that Ms. Prince is seven months pregnant and unable to travel much. I am sure I don't need to explain about traveling for long distances on the Knight Bus or the dangers of apparating in that condition." He then motioned to Mrs. Weasley and said, "Molly if you please, why not let someone use the floo to make a call so they can see how easy it really is."

The woman nodded and motioned to one of the reporters to come up and make a call. "It really is easy and look; no floo powder to get my hands dirty." She called her boss at the office and spoke briefly to him before ending the call and sitting back down in her seat. Three elves appeared about that time with refreshment trays of butter beer, pumpkin juice and lemonade as well as several pasties and biscuits. All served courtesy of Prince Conglomerate.

As she circulated the room, answered questions and helped others use the floo, she noticed her brothers and gave a little wave. It was about an hour later when everyone was leaving that she was finally able to speak to them.

"How are you? I am so glad you came!" Molly gave each one of her big brothers a bone crushing hug.

Vince came up to her about that time and said, "Well done as usual Molly. It was a wonderful demonstration of the features that can come with the mini-floo. We are hoping to generate some business from some of the working class now that most of the upper class has had one installed."

"Thanks Vince for being here, sometimes these people can get a little rowdy with their questions. Be sure to tell Becca, after the baby is born, to come and visit. Her little one with only be a few months younger than my Ronnie."

"I will be sure to pass on the message." Vince said as he was leaving.

Molly turned back to her brothers and asked, "So what are you two doing here? Come to see your nephews or have you just come to see me? It's been ages since we have seen you. What have you been doing?"

"One question at a time Molly." Fabian chuckled and asked, "A lot has been changing around here. What is with the guesthouse? I know you couldn't afford this with all the other things going on."

"Prince Builders did it for us. This is actually the only room furnished. They wanted us to have a place for demonstrations and let's face it, our house is not the place for it with the children running around all the time."

"So tell us about these people at Prince Conglomerate." Gideon demanded of her gently.

"Well, I don't really know that much. The owner is from Germany, they are expecting a baby. I only met Becca and Harry Prince once but they were really nice. They are younger than me but I think there is an older spouse in there somewhere. Becca and Harry are brother and sister."

"How did they come to you about this plan of theirs?" Fabian asked suspiciously.

"Oh, well that was quite by accident. They didn't know many people here and asked their account manager at Gringotts if he knew of anyone who might be willing to do the testing and publicity. They wanted someone from the Britain wizarding world to be able to vouch for them. Well of course you know they couldn't ask anyone with money, there would be no reason for any of those moneyed purebloods to do something like this, so a goblin told them about us and our big family and they came to talk to us."

"Just like that, you let strangers into your home?" Gideon was wondering about the sanity of his sister. Didn't she know there was a war on?

"We had a letter of recommendation from Gringotts. If a goblin is willing to vouch for a wizard, I don't see the harm in granting them a visit. Really, how many times have you even heard of a goblin doing something like that? We even flooed the bank to make sure it was their letter even though it was sealed with their insignia."

"Molly you took a big risk here, with your family. I don't think you really appreciate the dangers of the war." Gideon started to lecture her.

"Look, you two, I don't need a lecture. Both Arthur and I agreed to do this. Before the media was allowed into the wards a security detail was waiting to check them out. Prince Conglomerate takes every precaution in seeing to our safety. They built the guest house so people would not come into our home. This has been good for us and I don't need you raining on our good fortune. Bill already has a vault for his Hogwarts tuition because he came up with the feature of dropping the floo powder into the fire. When Vince heard his suggestion, he took it to the Prince people and they arranged it as payment for his idea. He will get royalties from the sales of that feature."

"You mean they are paying you for your ideas?"

"Of course, they believe that is only fair. The mini-floo was invented by Becca Prince as a young child when her Great Grandfather complained about getting on his sore knees to talk to people. They respect people and creatures alike and they believe in helping people. She even arranged for me to write a book, A Witch's Household Guide. She had a writer follow me for a few months to write what I did to make housework and cooking easier. She said with so many muggle raised witches and wizards they needed something like that because they wouldn't have learned it at home."

"Are they Gryffindors?"

"Not that it matters, but Becca and Harry are from Australia and were home schooled. Not every one sees their life as one of the four houses from Hogwarts." Molly said sternly, hoping they would stop their pestering about those nice people.

"Alright sis, we are sorry. We're just worried about you. The war is escalating and we don't want to see you get hurt." Gideon said.

"How about we go see our newest nephew?" interjected Fabian for a distraction. So they went to the house for a nice long visit.

Later that evening…

After the twins made their way home, Fabian looked at his brother and said, "I don't get it, Molly is a very good judge of character and wouldn't risk her family. Why do you think Dumbledore is so desperate to get to know these people?"

"I think it has something to do with the information in that book. I haven't read all of it, but it didn't seem as if they were trying to take over the world. It also didn't seem as if they were defending Voldemort in anyway either. So far it has actually been very informative."

"Perhaps we will find out tomorrow what has him so worked up."


	64. Many Are Called

Posted: 12 January 2010

Chapter 64: Many Are Called

The next day Fabian and Gideon met with the headmaster and great leader of the light. They were to report on what they found out about the company called Prince Conglomerate. Actually they now had more questions for the headmaster than they had answers to give him.

They made their way past the gargoyle and up the stairs, and then knocked on the Headmaster's door. At the summons to enter, they greeted the old man behind the desk with a smile. Getting right to the point he started his interrogation.

"What have you found out for me gentlemen?" The old man asked while sitting in his chair with his eyes twinkling. If they had looked closer they would have seen this twinkle for the maniacal gleam it really was, but they remained ignorant to the cause of his famous signature sparkle.

It was Fabian who spoke first, "We didn't find out much at all. The owner is from Germany; he married someone from Australia; the sister is about seven months pregnant and they run a very successful business."

Then Gideon picked up the conversation. "Judging from the contract they have with our sister and her husband, they are fair and excellent business people. They have Molly monitoring the success of different types of floo powder, so she is paid to keep a journal of length of calls and quality."

"They are also helping her write a housekeeping and cook book. They are very generous in their payment of the work Molly and Arthur do for them but not excessively so. Molly and Arthur have only met them once or twice and deal mostly with other executive employees."

"We got the impression that they are staying out of everything for now in order to protect the pregnant mother, but once the baby is born we may be seeing them more in the wizarding society."

Dumbledore had watched the conversation as the two of them took turns adding to the information they received from yesterday's visit. "Is that all you gentlemen can tell me? How about their political affiliations? What side of the war are they on? Who are they exactly? Where in Australia did they come from? How were they raised? Why are they really here? These are the questions we need to know in order to make decisions on what to do."

"I am sorry Professor; I don't understand why we need to know that." Gideon stated in confusion. "I have read the book they wrote and although it is very useful information, mostly for our side, I don't believe these people want to be involved."

"We get the impression that they follow the idea of 'the pen is mightier than the sword'. They do not fight, there have been no attacks from them in any sector that we know of from our sources and they are growing a business." Fabian added. "Many business owners are staying neutral to try to keep what they have. It's not a crime and it doesn't imply any hidden agenda on their part."

Dumbledore frowned at what he was hearing. He wanted these men to do what he said, not think for themselves. But that was obviously not going to happen. He would have to see if Sirius could get information from his friend Remus Lupin. Maybe it was a mistake, not getting the werewolf to join the order on a permanent basis.

"Well thank you gentlemen for gathering that information for me. Perhaps I could just send then another invitation after their child is born. You said the girl was seven months pregnant? So if I request a meeting in August that should be a more convenient time to their schedule. If you hear anything else about these people, please let me know."

As the twin redheads left the castle and were walking to the apparition point, Gideon placed a silencing bubble around them. "I don't know what else he expects us to find out about these people. Why is he so concerned about them?"

"I think the old man is losing it. Really, Gideon, think about this. He is spending way too many resources trying to find out where these people live and who they are and what they do. I am beginning to wonder if he doesn't have some hidden agenda of his own."

"We will just have to wait and watch brother." And with that parting statement they popped back home before reporting for work.

Back at Prince Stronghold Manor…

Becca and Tonks were in the pool room looking around. The decorations that Harry and the elves had put up were sagging a bit and needed sprucing up.

"You know Tonks, I really like these. I think we should leave the decorations like this all the time. Before it was decorated with sandy beaches and palms trees painted on the walls. This is so much more colorful."

"I still can't believe you have all this underneath the ground. When Remus realized where we were located he laughed so hard I thought he would never get his breath back. I have to admit that I was not impressed with the muggles either. When the advanced guard had to go and get Harry for his fifth year after the dementor attack, I thought they were too clean and it just wasn't natural. I mean, it wasn't like they had house elves to pick up after them all the time. But then, I guess that's what Harry was for."

"Did you see the journal of pranks we want to use on Petunia and Vernon? We have to wait as I don't want them to move before Dumbledore places little Harry with them. But then afterwards we get to prank and have all the fun we want."

"You want them to move after Little Harry gets here? Why? Won't Dumbledore then try to reclaim the baby?" Tonks asked; she had never understood that part of the plan.

"Dumbledore never checked on Harry in any of the other time lines. He just dumped him here and forgot about him. His blood wards would have alerted him to any type of trouble so he didn't bother. We can get them to move without changing his wards as they are going to be under our own. You can't get better blood protection than another you and a direct family member. Remember, the child I carry is Harry and Severus' son. I am looking forward to it."

"Since that is a ways off, let's get back to the wedding decorations." Tonks said as she finally understood exactly what Becca had been planning. She got a bit of a gleam in her eye at the fun they would have pranking the muggles later on.

The woman worked with a few elves for a couple of hours until the decorations were perfect. Then they started on the food and seating. They needed to get a guest list from the grooms, but started to put one together from the party list as well. That way the men could go down the list and just scratch out those they didn't want to invite.

Back in the Prince family quarters…

Salazar was in the sitting room with Harry and Severus going over the old pureblood bonding ritual for soulmates. It was slightly different than the others as it was even beyond death. They spoke about the colors that would be used for the bonding and what rings they wanted to have.

There were many details that Harry would never have dreamed of. So much meaning behind everything and Salazar and Severus explained it all to him. It took a few hours to go over all the details and Harry's head was spinning with the knowledge.

"We should write a book with this stuff in it. What if Sal hadn't been here to explain everything to us?" Harry suggested.

"There is a book Harry, it just needs to be updated and published. There are many books in this house that are waiting for the five of us to go over and rewrite before we publish them. It's how we are going to get the books completed in just a few months instead of taking a few years. Some of the books are old and need to be rewritten with a more modern day language and some of the are from the future and need to be checked for references of things that haven't happened yet." Severus explained to him.

"I thought we were going to have to do it in the time displacement room to get it done."

"We can't spend all our time in there; we need to be seen in the real world. Some of the books are ones our family wrote in Becca's time line, so they are still ours."

"Well if you gentlemen are finished with the wedding plans, I think I will go see what Becca and Tonks have come up with. I need the altar and podium to be set up with precise details.

"Before you leave, Sal, I wanted to ask you about something." Harry said softly as if he wasn't sure about what he was going to ask next.

"I will answer you if I can, what is the question?" Sal had noticed Harry's hesitation but wanted to encourage the young man.

"You said I was the chosen one, and I wondered if you could explain why?"

"Aah, I was wondering if you were going to ask that." Sal sat back down in the chair and tried to think of an answer Harry and Severus would understand. "The muggles have an expression that goes something like this… 'many are called but few are chosen'. Do you understand what that means?"

Harry shook his head no and looked up in confusion at the nobleman. "No Sir."

"It means, Harry that many were given the opportunity to take up the task. This war is not about you and never has been. This war is about good and evil. It is a conflict that has been around since the beginning of time." Salazar looked at Harry's perplexed expression and tried another tactic.

"Look at it this way, Grindewald was a great wizard, but so was Dumbledore. Grindewald was the dark and Dumbledore was the light. This means they got their power from polar opposites at the core of the very existence of magic. Grindewald let his power corrupt at a young age, but Dumbledore was not corrupted until later, thus making it necessary for fate to bring in another warrior for good. One that was not corrupt. Are you with me so far?"

Harry nodded and looked like he was thinking about this.

"There will always be one Light wizard of great power and one dark. The two must even themselves out for a balance of power. Always the power must move on to the next uncorrupt person that will take up the challenge."

"So who is the great dark wizard if it's not Voldemort? He was corrupted, right? He was born with the power and he misused it. Is that what you are trying to say?"

Sal smiled and nodded his head. "Exactly, he was corrupted at an early age and now has to be replaced because he has caused too much evil and good must prevail. You can't eliminate evil but just as with dark and light there must be a balance."

"So who is the dark wizard of good now?"

"Severus, you're intended of course. He is the one called and the one who fought for protection of you."

Severus looked at Salazar completely dumbfounded. How could he say he was the power of dark magic? True a spell was good or evil according to the wishes of the caster, and he did have much more power since he and Harry had bonded, but he never thought of himself as being in this role.

"You must be mistaken; I can't be the power of the dark. It must be you. You have traveled almost a thousand years and would be more powerful than me." Severus said his disbelief showing in his face.

"Severus, I have more knowledge and it is true that in my time I was the power for dark magic, but my time has gone and you are the one to take up the mantel. You have also been chosen."

"But… why?"

"Because, like Harry, you took up the task and didn't let outside influences change your direction. And like Harry you took up the challenge to get as educated as possible in the ways of your craft." Salazar replied, and then directed his attention to Harry.

"Harry, what happened when you 'friend' Ron was challenged? Did he study or did he 'skive' off, to use one of your current phrases. Did he work at his spells or did he want to play and talk about Quidditch instead. He too may have been called, but like so many others before him, he ignored the call and did his own thing."

"But I was doing that too. I still don't get it."

"Let's put it another way. When your uncle beat you, did you want to kill him? Did you want to get away? What were your feelings?

"Sometimes I wanted him to drop dead, but mostly I just wanted to run away."

"And yet you didn't because you had been told you needed to stay there. Were you jealous of your friends and wish to swap places or were you happy your friends had a loving family and just wish for one of your own?"

"One of my own." Harry answered as he pulled Severus' hand into his giving it a little squeeze.

"All of these things make you who you are Harry. You want the best for others and yourself, yet you are not looking to have what you want by taking it from others. There is no greed inside you and therefore no corruption. Let's look at another of your friends, a real friend this time. Neville Longbottom was also called, in fact he was born the same time you were and could have been chosen according to prophecy. However, he allowed his low self-esteem to hold him back. He did not want to take up the mantel even in other time lines. So he was not chosen."

"So I was chosen for who I am and not just randomly." Harry was starting to understand much more than he thought he would.

"Exactly. That doesn't mean you should not profit, but not with stealing and with jealously. Your company reflects that today. You profit, but only in helping others and not in geed and selfishness. You chose to take up the call just as Severus has done and so you are chosen. I do not believe it is an accident that you are soulmates either. It was chosen for you by your very nature to want to protect your heritage."

"I am not sure Sev would agree with you." Harry said with a smirk as his lover smacked him on his arm.

"Hey, that wasn't nice."

"Severus was headed down the wrong path for a brief moment in time. We all make mistakes and are not perfect. But if we recognize those mistakes and take steps to correct them then we place ourselves on the correct path once again. It is through trial and error we learn the most." Salazar explained.

"You know, your portrait said something like that. It said I was chosen because I didn't want it but would do what needed to be done. That because I didn't really want the power but accepted it anyway, that it wouldn't corrupt me." Harry remembered. "I just didn't understand what he meant at the time."

"That's right Harry. I will caution you though. You are young and I beg you to make sure you do not become corrupt in later years. I do know that you will work for the good of our world for many years, but you must always stay true to the cause. It will serve you well."

Harry nodded at the man's words. He already saw what corruption did to other people and he would never be like that.

"Now, if you gentlemen have no further questions for me, I think I will go freshen up before dinner." So Sal left the room leaving Harry and Severus there alone sitting on the sofa.

"Here that Sev, you are chosen too."

"I most certainly am. Come here brat." Severus pulled on Harry's arm and flipped him right into his lap. "I have been chosen as the one to ravish your body throughout eternity." He smirked as he grabbed Harry's head in both of his hands and started to ravish the younger man's mouth full force.

When he stopped for air, he said, "I have wanted to do that all day. With all this talk about the wedding and happily ever after, it only makes me want you more."

Harry smiled at him and moaned as he was pressed against Severus. "So what are you going to do about it?"

"I am going to kiss you again until you beg for mercy." Severus said as he grinned evilly and pushed his lips against Harry's mouth again.

About a half hour later Tonks and Becca came into the room with little Teddy in tow. "Oi, guys not in front of the kid!" They heard Tonks shout with a laugh. Her hands were over poor Teddy's eyes and he was struggling to see what was going on.

Suddenly there was a bucket of cold water dumping on their heads as Becca and Tonks started laughing.

"Arrgghh." Were the cries from the two men as they pulled apart, dripping wet. "Hey that was cold." Harry said.

"Yes, in more ways than one." Severus added.

"Which one of you did that? This could mean war, you know." The scowl on the older man's face was priceless.

"We're not telling." Becca said in a little sing song voice. "You two need to learn to use privacy charms, and I know you have your own room for this kind of thing. You could have scarred the little one with all that snogging."

"I am sorry Tonks; we apologize for our lack of decorum in our activities." Severus said. "Come, Harry, lets get cleaned up for dinner."

"You've only got fifteen minutes!" Becca was heard to say as they left the room.

"Tonks, I need you to dry off the sofa. We don't want to get a wet seat next time we sit down." Tonks, reminded of Becca's power problem, quickly flicked her wand and the room was restored to order.

"Think they will figure it out?" She asked her new friend.

"Nope. They know I can do some things but tire easily. If you don't tell I won't tell."

That evening at dinner, Becca and Sal were sitting at the table waiting for the two men to come so they could start eating. The Lupin family had decided to eat in their own quarters for a one on one family time as Teddy needed some undivided attention. Personally, Becca thought Tonks wanted to avoid the guys after the water incident so she wouldn't get fussed at, even though it wasn't her that had conjured the bucket.

After they had been waiting fifteen minutes, Becca called Kreacher to ask if he would go get the guys. The elf came back saying that the Masters were busy and they should eat without them. Becca laughed as Sal gave her a quizzical expression, wondering what was going on.

"Those guys are hopeless. Earlier Tonks and I interrupted a major snog session, so they took it somewhere else. I guess it's you and me for dinner this evening. I don't even think Regulus is coming, he said something about dinner with his mother. I am glad he is starting to socialize more, but he needs to be careful. Voldemort will do anything to re-acquire him."

"This will be the first time since I arrived that we have been unchaperoned. I do not believe this is a good idea. I know that these rules don't necessarily apply to this time, but I am not from this time and it makes me uncomfortable. Call the elf and have your Great Grandfathers brought in here." Salazar said in all seriousness.

"I don't know that you are going to get them out of their room. All this talk of weddings has… inspired them. How about we call an elf and let it stay in the room? We can also call Seventh Born if it would make you feel better."

"An elf was not a suitable chaperone in my day, but perhaps it will do. Certainly a snake is not any kind of deterrent from improper activities."

"It is if it's a basilisk that can kill you." Becca quipped. "Kreacher!" Becca called

"Yes, Mistress, Kreacher is here to serve." The little elf bowed slightly and waited for further instructions."

"Lord Slytherin and I wish to be chaperoned and Harry and Severus are busy. We request that you stay in the room and be our chaperone for the evening until they are otherwise unoccupied." Becca stated

Kreacher's eyes grew wide, but then he said, "It has been my duty to serve and protect the Black family for generations. I would be honored to chaperone for you." He then went to stand off to the side and watched the two while they ate and conversed for the rest of the evening. Never once did he take his eyes off his young Mistress and the Slytherin Lord.

In another room of the house, two men were reacquainting themselves with each other. They had so much going on lately that they had fallen asleep the last few nights as soon as they were in the bed.

Severus had joined Harry in the shower to clean up and get warm after the water incident and they had decided that a nice warm bath was a better option. After filling the tub with water and adding some silky musk scent and climbing into it, Severus had soon arranged Harry so that he was straddled onto his lap.

Right now he was paying close attention to the younger man's neck as he pressed their groins together, allowing the silky bath lotion to slick them up and create a very pleasant slide. Harry was somewhat incoherent.

"Sev," he panted "missed you…please… don't stop…" Severus could tell the young man was excited and close to finishing before they even got started if he didn't do something fast.

"Shhhh, Harry, take a deep breath and slow down, you are way ahead of me here and I want to enjoy this." Severus watched as Harry took a few deep breaths as he tried to slow down his reactions.

"Now, love, look at me and slow down a little." He then took Harry's mouth in a very slow exploratory kiss, swirling his tongue in the cavern made by the open mouth. He tasted so good, like the strawberries and cream flavored treacle tart they had earlier and… power. He could taste the power emanating from the younger man. He got caught up in it and soon he was stretching his lover to accept him. Both of them had magic swirling around them and they got caught in the serge of power and magic running through their veins and all around them.

Severus couldn't wait any longer; he settled Harry down on his lap and pierced him as the young man screamed in passion. "Severus!" the younger lover said as he started to move back and forth, "more please more."

Severus swiftly turned them around and settled Harry on the step in the small wading pool that served as their bathtub. He thrust into his lover hard as the water splashed around them and over them, causing a maelstrom of storms around them with the magic swirling and the water with it. Thrusting harder and harder to reach the pinnacle of their ardor, they waited for the explosion of their passions coming together.

Finally their lovemaking came to a completion like a small explosion contained in the bathroom. As they started to settle and were able to speak again, Harry asked Severus, "What just happened?"

"I'm not sure Harry, but I think we just had a power surge. Like an increase in power from somewhere. I have never experienced anything like that before, nor have I ever heard of something like that ever happening before. Maybe we should talk to Sal later about it. For now, I don't even know if I can get up."

"Yeah, let's just rest here for awhile and we can talk to him tomorrow." Harry agreed, still breathless and panting. They slowly finished their bath and made their way to the bed where they collapsed almost before they could pull the bed covers over them.


	65. Getting Married

Posted: 12 January 2010

Chapter 65: Getting Married

The wedding was a week away and the guest list was growing by leaps and bounds, much to the consternation of Harry and Severus. They hadn't wanted a big fuss over their final joining, but as Sal and Becca and even Remus Sr. pointed out, you didn't want to create any discord among the executives at the company or even the foreign ministries by not inviting people. It was a political strategy, one that they hated, but they may need their help in the future.

So the invitations went out and there were over seventy guests that had sent in an RSVP already, including the German and Australian Ministers of Magic and some of the instructors.

The security logistics were becoming a nightmare until Sentry Dobby stepped in and said, "Masters Prince, if you would, I think there is a way to settle this quite simply."

"Dobby, if you can simplify this mess, I will give you a raise in salary." Severus sighed.

"Master Prince, Dobby does not need a raise, he is just doing his job." The elf gave a slight bow and then explained. "There are five side rooms to the upper level receiving area; we can have groups of four or five arrive in each room and seal it off until everyone is cleared. One of The Seven can be in each room to test the air around the guests. Magical snakes are very good at that kind of magic. We need to station all the off duty sentry staff in those rooms including the night staff. This way, all of your guests can arrive and be settled in half an hour."

"Dobby! That's brilliant!" Harry said. "Let's ask The Seven if they agree. I don't want to volunteer them without asking first."

"Dobby already spoke to The Seven and they nodded yes." The little elf informed them.

"You can speak to my snakes?" Harry asked in shock.

"They understand English; I just can't understand what they say back." Dobby explained. Actually, Dobby had gotten quite fond of the little creatures once he understood they would protect the masters at all costs, just like Dobby would.

Lucius Malfoy arrived soon after to speak with Severus as he had asked for the meeting. Severus was going to remove the block that he had placed when they were taking the Occlumency lessons earlier in the year. He was dreading this but knew he couldn't have the man marry them with this hanging over his head. It just didn't seem right.

"You put those blocks on me? Why would you do that?" Lucius asked after the blocks were removed. Then he started to remember.

"I did it for a short time to allow you to make decisions without the prejudice notions of your upbringing. If you do not want to be associated with us any further, I will understand. We want to create a magical world that reflects magic from all creatures. It makes our world stronger and will help us to defeat the evil that prevails over it now. The Dark Lord is not the only evil wizard out there. Dumbledore gains power in the ministry and the Wizengamot and uses it to his own means. He will only get worse as time goes on."

"I will have to think about this." Lucius answered Severus. "I was not expecting this kind of information. I will stick to my oath and not reveal any of the information that has just been released in my head. But I have to tell you, I am not happy about this."

"I completely understand, just let us know an answer so we can make arrangements for our bonding in a week."

"I will owl you tomorrow, one way or the other." Lucius then portkeyed out of the manor and arrived home to lock himself in his study. He had much thinking to do."

Severus went to talk to Sal about Lucius and they both decided to wait and see what tomorrow would bring. Severus actually thought that doing the ceremony with Salazar Slytherin would be enough incentive for the man to agree.

Everything was taking shape and the closer the wedding got the worse the wedding jitters became. Not because Harry or Severus were worried about their choice in mates. It was obvious how much they loved each other. No, it was all the fuss and fanfare that had them worried. Neither one of them wanted this much attention, they just wanted to be married. The pool room where the ceremony was to take place had already been enlarged to accommodate all the people coming. What ever happened to the simple small gathering they wanted?

It seems that bonding between soulmates was not a common thing at all and everyone wanted to see the nuptials. Harry hadn't thought it would be such a big thing, but Severus explained that it only happened once or twice a century.

The next day a letter arrived from Lucius Malfoy.

Severus,

I have given the matter much thought, and can understand your need for protection. Given my behavior, your actions although excessive, seem to be appropriate. I hold no ill will against you.

It would be my honor to officiate over the nuptials of you and Harry with the assistance of Sal. Narcissa and I will arrive at the appointed time.

Lucius

Well, thought Severus, that was one thing less to worry about.

The next surprise was a few days later when they were presented with a gift from Gorbink and Griphook. They had taken the design of the engagement ring that was given to Harry and had goblin hand crafted wedding bands for the two men. They were exquisite with runes on the inside and outside of the band. Each ring had an emerald and onyx stone embedded into the platinum with a gold infinity seal surrounding them, like a figure eight with the stones inside the circles. It had the prince coat of arms on the side of the onyx and the Potter on the emerald side. It was the most exquisite thing Harry and Severus had ever seen. They had been going to use the Prince wedding bands, but had decided not to as Severus Snape would most likely use the same bands from this time period.

With much debate, it was decided to also invite the Weasleys to the wedding. They had been working and doing research for the company for some months now and had not had much contact with the family. Harry was somewhat hesitant, but realized these were not the same Weasleys that betrayed him and it was possible that Dumbledore had something to do with that in his own timeline. This would be a good opportunity to see if they could be trusted. Their RSVP came the same day the invitation went out. They had set aside a room for the younger children that some of the nanny elves could use to babysit. They wanted their guests to feel free to come without the hassles of acquiring sitters and explaining where they were going because they had to keep it a secret.

They had used a similar spell on the invitations as they did with the company memo that had gone out earlier. Anyone reading the invitation could not discuss it with anyone else except another known to be invited. That meant they could discuss it with the spouse or family but no one else.

It was three days before the wedding when Sal had contacted Remus Sr., Tonks, Regulus, Moony, Snape, and Lucius. He was worried about something with the wedding and wanted these people ready to help if needed. He explained what he thought could happen and showed them a spell that they needed to learn. It was one that Regulus and Moony already knew but the others hadn't seen before. He wanted nothing to go wrong at the ceremony.

The day before the wedding had finally arrived and although it was not really a custom of the wizarding world, Becca and Tonks tried to get the couple apart and not see each other till the next day. It didn't work. No matter how much arguing, cajoling, or otherwise convincing, the two men flatly refused to be separated for even a few hours. Becca thought it was cute.

As Seamstress Sissy was making the final adjustments and muttering to herself as she pulled and tucked on the final robes, Severus and Harry were having a hard time staying out of each others arms. The poor elf threatened to separate them if they didn't behave so she could make sure the clothes fit perfectly. It wouldn't do for the Prince family seamstress to have her masters in anything but the absolute best.

The robes were made of the finest acromantula silk. The snow white of Harry's robes was offset by the pitch black of Severus'. Both robes were exactly the same style with a few minor adjustments to accommodate their size. The topcoat and tails style they decided on was perfect for the two men with the tailored slacks, shirt and vest. On Harry's suit, was a black tie but on Severus' was a white one. They offset each other as if they had just stepped out of a magazine. It was going to be a wonderful wedding. Seamstress Sissy then had them take off the clothes so she could set them on the mannequins provided in the room. She did not want them on hangers to put any creases in her work.

That night as the two men were getting ready for bed, Harry asked Severus, "Are you worried about tomorrow?"

"That depends on what you mean by worried. Am I worried about having nearly one hundred people and creatures in the manor? Yes, I am worried. Am I worried I will forget something? Then yes, I am worried about that too. Am I worried about marrying you? Absolutely not however I am worried about keeping you happy for the next hundred years or so. I love you Harry and want to be with you."

"I love you too Sev" Harry sighed and snuggled into the man. Tomorrow he was going to be Severus' husband and he wanted everything to go well for his future bonded. He was worried about being able to make Severus happy, but knew they would work on it together.

Then next morning…

Everyone was having breakfast in the dining room going over last minute plans. The wedding was set for three in the afternoon and they still had things to get ready.

It was an hour before the wedding and the guests were already arriving. Remus Sr. was helping Harry to get dressed and Salazar was helping Severus get dressed in the other room. Both of them were nervous about forgetting their lines or forgetting where to stand. Remus Sr. was assuring Harry that everything would be fine and it was likely that none of the guests had ever seen this type of bonding, so if they made a mistake no one would know the difference.

Remus had given Harry some cufflinks that had belonged to James Potter. He explained that he had gone back to Godric's Hollow after Sal showed up, looking to see if there was anything of value left to bring back to Harry. He had been carrying them for some time and was glad to finally give them to their rightful owner.

"Don't worry cub. You will be fine and Severus is perfect for you." Remus tried to calm the young man. "You know your parents would be so proud of you today."

"Thanks Remy, I just don't want to disappoint Severus."

"I think the only thing that would disappoint Severus would be if you didn't show up."

"He said much the same thing last night."

"Trust in him and your instincts, and everything will be fine, cub."

Dobby popped in at that moment with a 'crack' and announced to Harry. "Master Harry, Sir, all the guests have arrived and you have twenty more minutes to finish before you are needed to walk down the aisle."

Harry took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Thank you Dobby, I am ready and will be there shortly. Are all the children in the play room?"

"Yes, Master Harry, they have the see through wall so they can see the ceremony if they want, but can also play with the toys if they want. Young Master Bill Weasley requested to sit with his mother and father so we allowed him to do that."

"That's fine Dobby, he is a little older and used to watching his kid brothers, so is mature for his age. Just keep an eye on things and let us know if there are any problems."

"Yes, Master Harry." Then with another crack, the elf popped back to his duties.

It was ten minutes till the ceremony was scheduled to begin and Harry stopped his pacing and left the room with Remus Sr. He was so glad that a friend of his father's was there to help him. He knew that if Sal had not brought him and Tonks back to him, he would have missed them terribly on this day. He still missed Sirius and wondered what the one from this time was doing. He hoped he could get to know this one more than he knew the other one. His life had been cut too short.

These were such maudlin thoughts for a wedding day, so he changed his focus to marrying Severus. As he went in the lift to the second level with Remus at his side he was thankful for being alive for this. Everything he had gone through in the past year was so incredible it was hard to believe.

The music started as soon as he entered the room, right on schedule. There was Severus standing at the front of the room and Harry didn't see anyone else. Keeping his eyes on his lover, he walked slowly forward, his steps steady but his hands trembling. He barely remembered Remus at his side, so focused on Severus as he was.

On each side of the room about three meters from the center where Harry and Severus would stand, were two unicorns from the herd in the forbidden forest. They had been portkeyed in straight to the pool room and these were the royal heads, the king and queen, of the herd and had been invited to participate in the ceremony. They were one of the first to sign a pact with Prince Conglomerate for protection in exchange for the precious freely given hair and blood used in their potions. Each had a royal cloak tied around their necks and spread across their back. The coat of arms for the Prince family was on the cloaks, surrounded by the colors of royalty interwoven in an intricate Celtic knot design.

They were doing an ancient ritual that included other creatures to bless the marriage. The creatures at the wedding were goblins, fairies, and the unicorns as well as the house elves. The Light Elves were represented as Shashi was there as well and a few vampires, dark elves, fey and wood nymphs.

As far as the human guests, included were the American, French, German, Swiss, Asian and Australian Ministries. If anyone thought it strange that the British Ministry was suspiciously absent, they did not make comment. Sensei had come back with the Asian Minister of Magic and his family.

In addition to the other creatures present at the ceremony, there were several mirrors in the room connected to an outside sister mirror for the centaurs, acromantula and werewolves as well as the other communities represented here. All these people were considered a part of the Prince Conglomerate organization. The bank at Gringotts, Gringotts II and the company buildings were included as well. All were discretely placed and no one could see unless invited. Harry said something earlier about this being televised in magic. Very few understood the reference.

Lucius started the ceremony. "Who gives this man to be wed?"

Remus responded "I do, in the absence of his parents and his Godfather." He then kissed Harry on the forehead and sat down next to Tonks until he was needed again.

"The binding of two soulmates is one of the most precious of all ceremonies in the world. Not only are we binding them together in this life, but in the life beyond." You could hear several people gasp when Lucius said soulmates. Not everyone knew that fact.

"Do you, Harry James, take Severs Masterson to be you're lawfully bonded?"

"I do."

"Do you, Severs Masterson Prince, take Harry James to be you're lawfully bonded?"

"I do."

"With the affirmation of these words, we will let the bonding of two souls commence."

Sal stood up to explain part of the ceremony. "The binding of soulmates is a most precious thing. This particular ceremony asks for the blessing of other creatures to solidify a binding trust not just between the two soulmates, but between magical worlds. This will give them protection in their travels through life where ever they may wish to go."

He then picked up the white rope from the table and said "White represents purity of soul and spirit and magic. Let this bind your purity one to the other and be with you always." He then wrapped the rope around their wrist, clockwise on Severus' left hand and Harry's right, binding the two wrists together.

There were seven fairies, each a different color, circling their head in a clockwise motion; the white one sprinkled white fairy dust onto the joined hands. It settled like glitter on the surface of their skin. When it finished the fairy flew back into the circle to continue on it's circular journey. The never ending circle not to be broken.

Sal then picked up the purple rope, "Purple is the color for royalty, magic and mystery. It symbolizes spiritual truth and good judgment. It is also the color of peace. May peace and good judgment always be a part of your lives throughout eternity as your magic grows with each other." He wrapped the rope around their wrists in a counter clockwise motion, letting it settle next to the white.

The purple fairy swooped down from the overhead circle long enough to sprinkle the purple fairy dust over the white, watched it settle on their skin and then rejoined the circle over the heads of the two grooms.

He then picked up the blue rope, "Blue stands for the sky above and the sea below, and is the coolest of colors. It is also the symbol of inspiration and sincerity. May you always have the courage to be sincere with each other and those around you." He wrapped the robe in a clockwise direction around their wrists.

The blue fairy repeated the actions of the former colors.

The red rope was next, "Red stands for prosperity, passion and love. It also symbolizes life and is the warmest of all colors. May your passion for each other never waiver in your lives together and through out eternity." The rope was wrapped around in a counter clockwise motion.

The red fairy sprinkled her dust on the hands clasped together. Each time the dust fell on their hands, Harry and Severus felt a tinkling go up their arms as if infusing their hearts with the virtue of the color.

"Green is the color for fertility, life and nature itself. It symbolizes harmony and growth and is the color for the master healer and life force. May you also continue to grow toward and with each other and sooth the hurts of the other in your lives together." He wrapped the rope in a clockwise motion.

The green fairy gave a little giggle as she sprinkled her dust on the joined hands of the two men. She then gave them a quick wink before rejoining her circle. Harry blushed at the significance of the green being for fertility.

"Gold is the color for success, wealth and good health. It is also a symbol for immortality and divine nature. May you both be successful in your endeavors and in your dealings with each other." He wrapped the rope in a counter clockwise motion.

The gold fairy swooped down to add her golden dust to the others. She flashed them a smile as she rejoined the others still circling above their heads.

"The final and most important color is Silver. It represents truth of the soul and the moon that shines at night. It brings all the royal colors together in unity. These colors not only are for royalty in this world but throughout the world these are the colors chosen in all royal families to unite them and keep them together. May you always be united in truth between each other and with those around you."

When the silver fairy came down to sprinkle her dust on the bound hands of the two men, she used more dust to cover the other colors and even on the ropes themselves. This was to unify the royal colors for all time.

Lucius then took up the ceremony and said.

"The rings that are presented today are goblin hand crafted for the special use of our grooms; the gifts may now be presented." Gorbink and Griphook came forward, each carrying a ring on a silk cloth in their hands. Since the rings had been presented to Harry and Severus, no human hand had touched it. With the ropes still around their wrists, they each picked up the ring in the other hand and held it up.

"These rings have never been touched by human hands, save that of our grooms, and are imbued with the protection magics that will last forever. You may now exchange rings and say your vows."

Severus was the one to speak first as the dominant partner. "I give you this ring to represent my love and sincerity for our bonding. I accept the responsibility of purity, peace, sincerity, passion, harmony, wealth and unity in our lives. My life is yours and bound to you as yours is to mine." He then placed the ring on Harry's left ring finger.

It was Harry's turn now and he was slightly shaking. "I give to you this ring that represents my love and sincerity in our bonding. I give to you the responsibility of purity, peace, sincerity, passion, harmony, wealth and unity. In exchange I promise to always be the same with you and look up to you in our time of need as well as joy."

Harry and Severus then repeated together. "Our magic, our spirits, our hearts, our minds, our bodies and our souls are now one with the other. Never shall they be separated even in death."

The unicorns at this time raised themselves on two back hooves and whinnied as the rings were exchanged. It was their way of blessing the union. Both were powerful in simple splendor as they kicked their front hooves in the air and rang out in their own form of song. When they settled back down, they bowed their heads to the grooms. The fairies that had been circling their heads suddenly stopped and shot straight into the air as if shooting stars where suddenly released.

Sal nodded to the five members that he had trained to join him and Lucius. They quickly left their seats and formed a circle around the grooms. Each one had their wand in the right hand as they joined their hands together and they only left the circle open where Sal and Lucius would join hands with them. This would make the closing of the circle.

"This athame is the final step in which you shall be bonded in eternity. Take this and prick your palms that are bound together and mix your blood one with the other in final acceptance of your bond."

As they both were busy with the athame, Lucius and Salazar took a step back so they could close the circle the others had made. As soon as Harry and Severus' palms touched, the seven in the circle pointed their wands and shouted, "Protegos Maxima" and a golden shield dome surrounded the couple just before the ropes flared and sank into the skin of the two men along with the fairy dust.

A blinding white light flashed and the couple momentarily disappeared before flashing into two beautiful phoenix birds flapping their wings to stay airborne; one of the purest white and the other of the darkest black. The power from the flash knocked back the seven in the circle before disintegrating the shield. The two birds took to flight the white going in a clockwise direction, and the black in a counter clockwise direction, circling the entire group of guests as they sang out the purest song of love and devotion. Each time they passed one another, you could hear the brush of their wings together and if you looked close, you could see the bonding rings on their left legs. Three times they circled the room before coming to a stop in their original place and landing on the floor to morph back into their human form, but glowing from the power they had created.

Lucius, who had picked himself off of the floor first and then straightened his robes said, "You may kiss the groom." Severus then placed both hands on Harry's cheeks and gently pulled him towards his mouth. "I love you." He whispered just before kissing him. Harry slid his hands around the waist of his new husband as Severus brought the kiss deeper. When the kiss ended and Severus was standing there looking into Harry's eyes, the younger man said, "I love you too. Thank you for marrying me."

Lucius said, "May I now present to you Mr. Severs and Harry Prince. So mote it be."

Everyone in the audience, that was not too stunned to speak, then repeated, "So mote it be."


	66. What Just Happened?

Posted: 13 January 2010

Chapter 66: What Just Happened?

Lucius turned back to Salazar who was still on the floor and extended his hand to the older man to help him up. "Did you know that was going to happen?

Sal shook his head, "I knew the power surge was possible, but not that much power. I never expected the phoenixes to appear and still don't know what the flying about the room was for."

"It's going to be real hard to keep this a secret. I have never seen anything like that before and I would venture a guess we will never see anything like that again either."

"They are coming into their powers much faster than I anticipated. I have to speak with them about it soon. Right now we have a reception to attend." Salazar then turned to look at the others who looked like they had been knocked out temporarily with the blast of magical power.

He helped up Remus Sr. as Lucius helped up Snape and then Tonks came next with Moony and Regulus.

"Our shield didn't hold." Tonks said, stating the obvious. "Why didn't our shield hold?"

"It held long enough to keep the blast from harming the guests. I wasn't expecting the power surge to be so strong." Salazar told her.

"How are we going to keep this secret? They didn't want a fuss and now this?" Regulus wanted to know. He was worried about his friends.

Salazar was the one to answer him. "I don't think it really matters if anyone finds out. Even if Voldemort found out, what could he do against that kind of power? He wouldn't stand a chance." He noticed Snape and Malfoy cringe, and then they got a perplexed look on their faces. Salazar watched as they laid their hand on their left forearms with a questioning look.

Lucius was the first one to roll up his sleeve and bare the clear flesh on his arm. Salazar raised his eyebrows at Snape to do the same and they found the same results.

Their dark mark was gone.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that either." Salazar said with a smirk. "I think we need to go speak with the grooms for a minute."

The grooms were waiting in a receiving line for the guests to line up and offer their congratulations. Becca had to move them several times as they were not looking where they were standing, nor were they paying attention to anyone else. The two 'love birds' were so enamored with each other; you would have thought no one else was in the room.

As Salazar approached the two newlyweds, he noticed a magical glow coming off of them both. Never before had anyone seen this type of afterglow from a wedding ritual. He would have to go ask Merlin what it meant.

"Hey guys, get your heads out of the clouds for a minute, we need to talk to you." Salazar said under his breath so only they could hear him.

"They all three moved to the side and quickly placed a privacy bubble around them. "Lucius and Snape are now missing a certain piece of body art. I just thought you should know."

Severus raised his right eyebrow in shock and Harry just looked at Salazar with a dumbfounded expression on his face. "How?" Harry asked.

"Don't know for sure, but I think it was the power wave you guys created when you mixed your blood. The seven of us used a protegos maximas to shield the guests, but we got knocked back by the blast.

"I don't even remember that happening, although I do remember the phoenixes. I didn't even know we had phoenix animaguses."

"Neither did I." Severus interjected. "I also don't remember a power blast. Is everyone all right? No one got hurt did they?"

"Everyone is fine, and judging from what I could see, more than fine. I think the whole room including the elves received a power boost from your joining. I have never seen that happen before and was going to go confer with Merlin." All portraits from the training were under a concealing charm on the wall so they could see the wedding of the two men they had trained so hard.

Becca came over and nudged the guys, "Hey you are neglecting your guests! Come on, the line is forming and the sooner they go through the faster everyone can eat."

"I am sure our guests are hungry now. Please make sure the children are fed and allow some of the hors d'oeuvers to be served while everyone is in line." Severus turned to Harry, "Are you ready love?"

Harry nodded and they resumed their place to greet their guests. Salazar, Lucius and Remus Sr. were also part of the wedding party, but the goblins, fairies and unicorns were off to the side as this was not their custom. In fact, is was the first time in their entire history of doing a ritual of this nature and they were still awestruck at the power it created.

Becca had arranged everyone in the lines so the Ministers of Magic could be the first to greet the grooms. The German Minister and his family were the first in line.

"Most impressive, Misters Prince. I have never seen a wedding like that and am sure that I never will again. You honor our family with your invitation. I just wish you have allowed us to bring you a gift. The portkeys would not allow it."

"The best gift anyone can give us is to find someone in need and give them something. It need not be much, but if we are to become strong in the face of adversity, we must come to trust each other." Harry replied. He and Severus had discussed this at length and knew there was not really anything they needed so had stated in the invitations for a gift to go to a needy person or charity of their choosing.

It was the same for the next hour with everyone wishing them blessings in their marriage, the ceremony was awesome and they wanted to give a gift. The same answer was repeated many times before line was finished and everyone was eating and waiting for the first dance to begin.

They had practiced for many hours and even in the training, Rowena and Helga insisted that every noble wizard and witch should know how to dance. This evening they were going to do one of the old pureblood traditional dances that many here had probably forgotten.

As Severus pulled Harry to face him, he smiled and said, "Our first dance as a married couple. Are you ready?"

Harry was nervous and a little shakey, but he nodded and looked into Severus' eyes. As his new husband guided him around the room, they were the center of attention as everyone in the room watched. They moved so fluidly, you didn't know where one started and the other stopped. Halfway through the song, Becca and Sal joined the couple in dance then some of the others joined as well.

After three dances, Harry and Severus noticed that many of the guests were finished eating. Normally the order would be receiving line, toasts, eating and dancing and cake, but because the line was so long and it was close to dinner time anyway, they rearranged the order a bit.

As they had danced, you could hear the popping and the flash of a camera sporadically throughout the room. Becca had insisted they needed a few muggle pictures to put on the walls of the house. Harry and Severus didn't even see the slight flashes they were so engrossed in each other.

It was Remus Sr. that got the attention of everyone and told the elves to make sure everyone had a drink for the toasts. It didn't take the elves very long as there were so many of them in the room. There was one elf for each table of ten so that the guests were taken care of and that didn't include the elves circulating the room for those that were standing and talking to others.

The room had been rearranged so that there now was a long table at the head of the room where the altar had been, and ten tables surrounding the dance floor with five on each side. Each table could seat ten guests each and they did not include the children who were playing in the magically added playroom with a see through wall so the parents would know their children were behaving.

As Remus Sr. and Tonks stood up, they faced Severus and Harry that had taken their places in the middle of the table. The couple raised their classes of champagne but it was Remus Sr. that spoke first.

"I first met Harry when he was a baby and Severus I met at school before Harry was born, and I can say that when they first met, no one could have predicted this." There were a few laughs around the room so he waited for everyone to quiet down.

"I have seen them go through the ravages of this war and truly they have come out the victor. A love like theirs will only be seen once in a lifetime. I am sure that we will never see another ceremony like the one we just witnessed either." Remus Sr, finished to let his wife speak.

"And when I met Harry, he was already fifteen and quite scruffy looking." She turned to face Harry, "You clean up well, by the way." They again heard some laughter and waited for the guests to quiet down. "Now I see the young boy has grown into a responsible and very respectable young man. Severus you are indeed a very lucky man."

To which he replied, "Indeed."

Then everyone at the head table, that included everyone in the wedding party, "To Harry and Severus, may your life be long and filled with joy."

Then guests then raised their glasses and said "So mote it be" and took a sip from the glass. It was the traditional pureblood ending to the blessing of the couple.

Then Snape, Regulus and Remus Jr. stood to give their toast, with Regulus as the spokesperson. "We have had the fortune to train with these men and to learn about them in the last few months. Each one has literally saved us from the claws of death. They complete the other in such a way; we can only hope to find someone half as special. To our continued endeavors together and the future of our world, here is to Severus and Harry."

Not to be outdone, the five Ministers of Magic then rose, but it was the Minister from Germany that spoke. "In order not to be here all night and at the hopes of not putting everyone asleep, I have been named spokes person for the five ministries that are represented here. These two men have touched all our lives in the past few months and we would like to simply say thank you. We have not known you lon, but after our favorable first acquaintance and now what we have seen here today, we wish to assure you that if you ever need our help, you have it." All the ministers nodded and then the man continued. "To Severus and Harry, long life and many blessings."

Everyone in the room lifted their glass and said "So mote it be" and took a sip from the glass.

Not to be outdone, the goblin filled table then stood. Gorbink, Griphook and the rest of their family had come and the whole table was full of goblins. They stood on their chairs so that they could be seen and heard and Gorbink offered the toast, "I too have known these men for many years, and wish to offer our blessing. 'May your vaults always be full and your businesses prosperous."

Everyone again lifted their glasses and said "So mote it be" and took a sip.

There were several other tables that did the same, each electing a spokesperson to give the couple their blessing. Finally they reached the last table where Walburga was sitting with Narcissa and some of the other ladies from their group.

"It is fitting that I am at the last table and able to make the last toast. To the Prince men, who saved my son and continue to educate us in the true pureblood ways. You are true royalty and we, at this table, give you our personal thanks for daring to take up a challenge and make a difference." She raised her voice a bit and said, "Many blessings to the Prince men."

Harry's face was flushed as he lifted his glass with everyone else as they took a sip. He was glad the toasting was over; he was starting to feel woozy. He didn't know if it was the excitement of the day, having too much to drink or that it was getting late. It could be all three, but he was hoping the party was coming to an end soon. They got onto the dance floor and had another dance. Severus seemed to know something was wrong and looked at Harry's pale face.

"Tired love?" he asked as Harry seemed to be leaning on him a little more than he had earlier.

"Yeah, just a little. Is this going to be over soon?"

"I do believe that people are starting to leave, we should go and say goodbye. It might hurry along everyone else's leaving too." Harry nodded so they went to the lift doors everyone had to use to get to the receiving room on the above level and then portkey out.

The Weasley's were one of the first to leave. All the kids were sleeping except Bill and it was hard for them to carry all five children at one time. Fortunately Regulus, Snape and Remus Jr. were ready to help. They only needed to bring them to the upper level where the family would all touch the portkey at the same time and be transported back home.

"Thank you for letting us be a part of this." Molly said as she held the baby in her arms. "I have never seen such a ceremony and don't think I have ever heard of one like this either."

"Molly," Severus began, "you are most welcome and we are honored that you could make it. Please remember that we have enemies out there and don't want anyone to find out about our joining."

"Oh, we won't say anything and Bill has already promised not to either. As far as what happened? Well it seems you have some unusual powers and they have united. There was such an aura of color surrounding you both; it was like looking at two rainbows merge into one. I have never seen a dark and light wizard soulmated couple. It was most interesting."

"Honey, we really need to go." Arthur said with a smile on his face. Once Molly got going, there was no stopping her.

"Well, yes, good night gentlemen, and thank you again." Molly said as the lift door closed and they were on their way.

"Now how did she know that?" Harry asked Severus with a frown on his face. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to let them come.

"She must be able to read auras. I didn't know that about her. I wonder if her power was blocked somehow in our timeline." Severus speculated before the next set of guests came up to take their leave of the couple.

Some of the last people to leave were the Ministers. They were actually being put up in the same apartment building that Remus Jr. lived in. He would accompany them and make sure they were comfortable as they wanted to explore the city of London and see some of the sights. There were a few executive apartments for guests to use and the elves had already set them up with supplies and whatever they would need. Arbulee was one of the first to come from the ministers' table and speak to the couple.

"Nice ritual, I have never seen anything quite like that. Now I know why the King Brown wanted to meet you. I have a present for you, and I know the invitations said not to bring one, but in this box is a portkey to my village. Anytime you want to visit, you are most welcome. They have built you a small hut for your own to stay in. It is yours and no one else will be using it. I am sure sometimes you need to get away."

"Thank you, Arbulee." Both Severus and Harry said at the same time. They didn't bother to ask him how he got the portkey in here. Knowing him, he used some kind of strange magic that Sentry Dobby would not have recognized.

Severus continued with, "We are most honored and look forward to another visit to the outback. As you can see from our decorations, certain parts of your country made quite an impression." Arbulee laughed softly at the mention of the decorations. The whole room looked like one Great Barrier Reef. He had never seen it done quite like that before. It was like swimming underwater but without the water.

"You need to come again soon then, perhaps for a belated honeymoon. I know you have many things to do and you needed to get married for the little one on the way. Becca, is quite an extraordinary witch, and her mate is even more extraordinary." He winked as if he knew their secret and somehow Harry thought he just might.

"O.K. Stop hogging the newlyweds." The American minister jovially said as Severus put the small gift in his pocket. "We have not really been able to meet yet, our invitation was made based on our acquaintance of one of the other students, Regulus Black and Sensei." He said. "Most unusual ritual, you will have write it down and send me a copy of the book. I have never seen anything like that."

"We will keep you in mind when our new books go out. We are currently revising several of the old text books and the pureblood etiquette books in hopes that the wizarding world can find peace together."

"I will do anything I can to help you in your cause. Even 'across the pond', we have problems with some uninvited guests coming to recruit, if you know what I mean."

Severus nodded, ready to greet the next person, but the American minister continued in a more conspiratorial tone. "Several of us are wondering if you are planning to broaden your businesses to other countries. I was most impressed when having a conversation with a fairy, no less, and finding out how you help the magical creatures."

"We have enough to handle right now, but after the war is over, it is a possibility. We had not thought about it. Perhaps someone in your country would be willing to learn and then take our business strategies for themselves or one of our employees would want to stay there and build the business." Severus was actually thinking out loud at this point as his voice tapered off to almost a whisper and he stared into space.

"Well, my lad, you should think about it and let us know. We need more unity and I know we have several colonies of acromantula as well as fairies, unicorns, not to mention the Vampires, werewolves and other species. Some of them came when the area was settled, but others were there long before the Indians even settled there." The American minister then shook their hands and made his way through the lift door as it was his turn to exit.

The other ministers had similar ideas for their own countries. Indeed the German minister that they had dinner with had already expressed a desire to do something in his own area. This was like a stone going downhill and picking up dirt along the way. The faster it rolled the bigger it got.

The fairies were the next to leave and as they said their goodbyes, the green fairy again winked at Harry. 'Merlin' Harry thought I hope she doesn't think I am pregnant or did something to help me get there. We already have one on the way.

Gorbink and Griphook were the very last. They too congratulated the couple and expressed their wishes to come see them or ask for them anytime they needed help. Severus briefly told him what the ministers said about wanting to start similar businesses in their own countries and he said he would put a strategy together if that was what Severus wanted. But they decided to hold off until later in the year.

"Salazar Slytherin!" Severus yelled as soon as the lift door closed on the last guest. "I want to know what happened!" Severus had held this in as long as he could and now that the guests were gone, he wanted answers.

Sal looked at Becca and shuddered. They had been talking with Merlin's portrait and could only offer a theory but not an actual explanation. The guys would just have to hear him out, but he knew they were not expecting half of the ritual that happened. The fairies were a surprise and so were the unicorns. When the other species had found out the wedding was going to happen, they wanted to be invited so everyone sent a representative if they could make it and still be safe. Obviously the centaurs didn't come because the logistics were just too complicated and the acromantula couldn't be here either, as they were too big and would have scared the guests witless. That was why the mirrors had been set up.

The Vampires that had come were the rulers of the clans and they had brought the fairies with them, after having infused the fairy dust with a little of their own magic. They helped protect the fairies under the contracts with Prince Conglomerate by protecting the little ones from poachers that would enslave them and sell them. They, in exchange, were given blood on a regular basis from a blood bank started by the company. Every now and then a brave soul would still try to catch the fairies, but they soon understood it was not a good idea. Fairy dust was extremely expensive and the amount used today would have cost a small fortune if someone were to buy it on the black-market.

Salazar walked over to Severus and Harry. The younger man looked like he was all tuckered out and needed a bed, not explanations.

"Merlin and I have a theory" Sal started to explain. Severus looked at him with a quirked eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.

"It's a rather long explanation, are you sure you want to hear it tonight? Harry looks a little tired there." Severus finally looked at his new husband and the remembered him being tired when they were dancing. That was over two hours ago.

"You are correct. We need to discuss this at another time. Don't think I am letting you off the hook though. I want answers tomorrow morning at breakfast. I expect you to be there at ten in the morning. Harry looks like he could use a late wake up call tomorrow."

Severus watched as the two left and turned to his lover. The elves were still there cleaning up but other than that they were alone.

Come on love," Severus said. "Let's get you to bed. Harry put his arm around his husband and they took the lift down to their quarters. They didn't meet anyone else on the way there and quickly got dressed for bed.

A/N I want to thank everyone who has reviewed. Since I answer all reviews possible, I won't list them here. Also thank you to everyone who is reading the story. You guys are my inspiration and it's really great when I still get a favorite story or author or story alert.


	67. Sal's Explanation

Posted: 16 January 2010

Chapter 67: Sal's Explanation

It was their wedding night and Severus had plans on ravishing a particular Gryffindor. They took a long hot bath in the tub and not five minutes into it, Harry fell asleep. Not surprising, given all the excitement, but Severus had seen the younger man with more stamina than this and he wondered what his lack of energy was from.

He carefully finished bathing, so as not to wake his husband, and carefully levitated him out of the bath and waved his hand with a drying charm. No sooner than the thought was there they were both dry and Severus carried Harry to bed. Perhaps a little rest would do them both some good. With a flick of his hand the covers were pulled back and he carefully placed the younger man on his side of the bed and silently got in from the other side.

Severus pulled the young man into his arms and Harry unconsciously snuggled up to Severus, placing his arm over his chest as he leaned his head against the older man's heart. He gave a contented sigh and settled for the night. Severus ran his hands down Harry's bare back and pulled him closer to get more comfortable. Soon he joined Harry in a deep sleep.

Several hours later, Severus woke up with Harry moving around in his arms. He appeared to be having some sort of dream; not a full blown nightmare but the dream didn't seem pleasant either. He muttered 'no' a few times and 'not ready' and Severus wandered what he was dreaming about.

Gently he shook the younger man awake while calling his name, "Harry, love wake up. It's only a dream." He started kneading the muscles in Harry's back to sooth him and his green eyed beauty finally started to wake.

"What time is it?" he asked softly into the dark. Severus did a quick tempus, and noticed it was three fifteen in the morning.

"It is still very early, love. Why don't you go back to sleep?"

"Oh Severus," Harry said in alarm as he suddenly realized he fell asleep on his wedding night. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to go to sleep like that. I felt so warm in the bath and you felt so good as I was leaning on you, I guess I was more tired than I thought."

"Think nothing of it. We were both tired and I went to sleep not long after you. We have the rest of our lives together; I think we can afford to get a little sleep during that time."

Harry smirked at the joke and said, "How about we start that 'rest of our lives' now and have a little fun. I would hate to have to admit to anyone that we slept through our wedding night." He let his hands start to wonder over the older man's chest and he soon found out that neither one of them had any clothes on. Severus really must have been tired. Harry had a habit of throwing off the covers and Severus always made sure Harry wore pajamas to bed.

Severus leaned in for a good long kiss, when suddenly Harry remembered something. "Wait Severus, we can't do this right now."

"What's wrong?"

"I keep remembering the way the green fairy winked at me. I think that was what I was dreaming about when you woke me up. We need to take a contraceptive potion. I don't want to take any chances on getting pregnant right now. We have too much to do."

"Harry, didn't you take one two weeks ago? They are good for a month. You don't have anything to worry about."

"I would feel better if I took another. Maybe the power surge did something and knocked it out of my system."

"Alright, I will go and get one. But I want you to know, this is above and beyond the call of duty. You owe me for this." He said with a laugh.

"Why don't we just call Kreacher and ask him to get one. You should take one too, just to be on the safe side."

Harry didn't even wait for Severus to do anything. "Kreacher!" he called out and the little elf appeared at the side of the bed with a 'pop'.

"Master Prince called for Kreacher?" the elf addressed Harry.

"I am sorry for waking you, but can you get us a contraceptive potion from the lab?" Harry didn't bother explaining anything to the elf. He wanted to get on with his wedding night.

Kreacher looked at Harry with a confused expression on his face. He didn't know why his master was asking for such a thing at this time of night. He answered as best he could without being disrespectful. "I can get it but I don't think it will be good for you." Kreacher said truthfully. "It could hurt the little one."

Severus and Harry stared at the elf in shock. Harry shook his head and said, "I'm sorry Kreacher, could you repeat that?"

"The potion you ask for may hurt the little one." Kreacher said again. "But if master wants, Kreacher will go get one now."

"No, that's alright Kreacher. Sorry we bothered you." Severus took over the conversation as Harry didn't seem to be able to comprehend anything at the moment.

Harry slumped back into the bed, staring at the ceiling as with another pop the elf left. His expression was unreadable, but it was apparent he was in shock. Severus let him think about what Kreacher had said for a few minutes before he started to get worried about his husband.

"Harry, are you alright?"

He didn't answer, just stared at the ceiling with a blank look on his face.

"Harry? Love? Are you alright?" Severus tried again.

Harry started to laugh. In fact, what started as a little chuckle, soon became side splitting hysterical laughter and Severus started to laugh with him. "Oh, Sev," Harry started to say before he curled up in more fits of laughter. "I always heard that men had to take some kind of potion to get pregnant. Somehow my body just keeps defying the laws of nature and magic, doesn't it?" Harry turned to look at his lover. "I hope you wanted another one, because this is your wedding present, even if I didn't plan it." Harry laughed again and finally started to compose himself. "I thought my stomach was a little queasy because of the wedding jitters. Now I know it was something else." Then he got a look of horror on his face. "Oh, Sev, what are we going to do now?"

"I don't know about you, but I am going to be more careful about what I wish for. I remember about a month or two ago thinking I really wanted to see you with a baby bump and wishing you were carrying Evan. You know the expression, 'be careful what you wish for'?" Severus said with a big grin on his face.

"You're not mad are you?" Harry said hesitantly.

"No, I don't think I would have the right to be mad, even if I was. The baby didn't get there all by itself; you had a little help remember? I wonder if that is what the power flash was when we were bathing a week or so ago. We never did talk to Salazar about it."

"I don't want to say anything till I see Doc. Kreacher could be mistaken about this and I would rather not make an announcement I have to retract later." Harry told Severus.

The dark eyed man nodded but then stated with a smirk, "You do realize, he isn't mistaken, elves always know these things. It helps them serve us better."

"I sort of knew that, but I was hoping." Harry said as looked at Severus.

"Does this mean you don't want to 'start the rest of our lives' now?" the older man asked as he started to nibble on Harry's neck.

"Hey, that tickles." Harry complained with an amused intonation to his voice.

"Do you know what people say about being ticklish?"

"No, don't think I heard anything about that."

"They say you are sexually unsatisfied. I guess I will have to correct that right now. I can't have you ticklish anymore. People might talk and think I am too old to keep up with your needs."

Harry snorted at that.

"Let's see what other ticklish spots I can find so I know how much work I have to do to keep you satisfied." Severus said as he attacked Harry with renewed vigor.

The next morning…

Salazar, Becca and Remus and Tonks were sitting at the breakfast table waiting for the newlyweds to come. Actually they thought this meeting should have been cancelled. I mean, really, who expects newlyweds to come out the next morning? They didn't know how determined Severus was to get his answers, but soon found out when he arrived at ten-thirty dressed for the day.

Two minutes later Harry also entered the room and then sat down next to his husband.

"Good morning everyone" Severus said as he sat down. Then he looked at Sal, "Alright Sal, tell me about this theory you and Merlin have come up with."

"Well, first you know that soulmates are a little uncommon." Sal started, but Severus gave him 'the look' with the raised eyebrow and the scowl on his face.

"Let's skip the obvious." The potions master said. Sal got straight to the point after that.

"Merlin thinks and I agree that because you are the light and dark powers and soulmates that it created a magical surge when you were thrice blessed. The ceremony had you blessed by the goblins, a dark power; blessed by the fairies, a light power; blessed by the Vampires by magic infusion in the fairy dust, a dark power; and blessed by the unicorns, a light power. When you add those to the blessing of magic herself with the dark and light powers, it makes you each thrice blessed. We actually didn't plan it that way, but as far as we can tell there has never been a soulmated couple with that kind of magic. There have been light and dark soulmates, but not with the major dark and light powers."

Severus was staring at him, trying to understand what he was saying. He didn't know anything about the Vampire blessing and he and Harry didn't even know the fairies were going to be involved.

"So you are telling me, we created that surge with the ceremony?" Harry asked.

"Not just the ceremony, but the fact that your union is from the polar opposites of the spectrum. When coming together you have actually created a union of both powers. We have never seen that before." Sal responded.

"I don't get it. How did we do that?"

Sal smirked at the younger man, he knew this explanation was going to be hard, especially since it was theory and there was no proof or an example they could use. "Merlin and I think that because light and dark have always been separate entities that you're joining has forced the magic into a new era. It is only a theory, but we believe you both now created a new power. One that is both light and dark and something in-between."

"Like gray magic?" Severus wanted to know.

"Yes, but an entity all its own; a third choice if you will."

"You are talking about a new generation of magic; a different way of using it." Severus surmised.

"Yes, exactly, a new power. I believe what we witnessed last night was a birthing of a new power." Sal said in relief. It looked like they were grasping the concept.

Remus Sr. looked at Sal and inquired "What does this mean for the Harry and Severus of this time? Are they also meant to have this great power?" It was a good question, but one Sal couldn't answer.

"I honestly don't know. Merlin said he has never seen anything like it and I know the other founders and I haven't. It could be that because of the destruction of the other time lines, the power focused on where these guys were. It could also be that this was meant to happen in all of the time lines, but was interrupted until now."

Tonks then got an idea. "Perhaps the younger Remus could go and visit the Potters and find out if Lily was at all effected by the powers from last night. I know she wasn't here, but if there was a new birth of power and Harry was effected, it could be she was too as she carries the other Harry."

"Wait a minute, we can't ask him to do that. Moony, Regulus and Snape don't know I am or was Harry Potter. They don't know my parents are Lily and James. How can we ask Moony to check in on them without telling them about their deaths?" Harry was worried about the no interference stipulation of their coming back to this time.

"If I had my mirror, this would not be an issue. I believe we need to sneak into Hogwarts and get the time mirror. The more we look at this, the more questions we have. We could observe much if we can get it."

Severus looked thoughtful and informed the others of something he had seen in the midst of the wedding preparation. "There were several 'invitations' in with the RSVPs requesting our presence in front of a certain old coot. I dismissed them as nuisance letters, but we could use them to our advantage." He paused to think about how they could best use this.

"You mean set up a meeting with the old man?" Tonks suggested. She may have been a Hufflepuff, but she had also been an auror and knew how to think sneaky Slytherin.

Severus nodded his head. "What if we take the old coot up on his offer and go visit him? We could put together an entourage of at least three or four people to answer his questions, or at least find out what he wants. I think Sal could use some glamour and come too. He could make an excuse to leave the office and go to the chamber. At least find out if his familiar can be set free from Voldemort's control and also find his mirror."

"Exactly how many letters did the old man send?" Remus Sr. asked.

"I read three, but Dobby told me there were three more he destroyed. Two were portkeys set to go off as soon as the letter was read and another one had a compulsion charm on it to coerce the reader into attending a meeting." Severus shrugged. "Those were the only ones that made it this far. He is a persistent old character."

"So who do you think should go with us?" Salazar asked.

"Not Harry, I don't want him anywhere near the old coot. Perhaps Regulus and either of the Remuses could go. That would be a good place to start." Severus said.

"Hey, no way are you not letting me go. I want to see if Fawkes is alright and I am not letting you go without me." Harry objected STRONGLY to being left out of the party.

"Harry you know why you shouldn't be there and you look too much like Lily and Potter. The old man may guess you are somehow related to them."

"If Sal is going under glamour, so can I. You are not going without me and that is final!" His irate husband banged his fist on the table as he said the word final. Severus had never seen the younger man so determined. He wondered if it was the hormones or the desire to go.

"I don't want Dumbledore to be able to read that new power Sal was talking about. It is stronger when we are together. I would be better if one of us stayed here." Severus tried to reason with his husband.

"Good. Then you stay, because I am going." Harry stated with an adamant look on his features.

Severus decided to shelve this topic of conversation until he and Harry were alone, so he changed the subject.

"Can we call Doc and see if he will come over and check on us? Maybe he can get a reading on this new power so we can be sure of what happened." Severus felt Harry's hand grip his thigh at the mention of Doc, but visibly relaxed when he didn't tell them the real reason they needed to see him."

"Actually, he is due this afternoon after lunch. He wants to give me a checkup after all the excitement of last night, so he arranged it before he left the wedding." Becca interjected into the conversation.

"Good, I actually have a little trip planned for myself and Harry as a little honeymoon. Will you be alright if we go away for a few days?" He asked Becca.

"With Remus, Tonks and Teddy to chaperone Sal and me? Then add to that Moony and Regulus popping in all the time?" Becca asked. "We could probably do without you for a few days." She smiled at them to show she was really alright with this.

Two hours later…

"You guys are really one for the record books." Doc said as he finished with Harry. "You were taking your contraceptive potion?" Harry nodded. "You and Severus didn't know you were pregnant last night?" Harry nodded again, that was true. "These are the strangest readings I have ever seen." He finished. Harry started to worry.

"What do you mean, strange reading?" Severus asked. He sincerely hoped that everything was alright. They may not have planned it, but the child was not unwelcome.

"The scans show you conceived almost two weeks ago. But the size of the fetus is the same size as a four week pregnancy. I believe the power surge caused you to accelerate the gestation of the baby. Your magic is interfering with some of my scans, but I believe you will not carry the baby for nine months. I think the fetus will develop faster than that."

"I know this is a stupid question, but have you ever heard of a fetus growing faster than norm… Sorry, I don't know why I am even asking. Nothing is normal in my life, why would this be any different?"

"That is what you do best, you know, surprise us." Doc replied, thinking fondly about the counterparts that he had known in the other time line.

Harry groaned and looked at the healer. "So is it alright for me to go on a little trip with Severus? We want to get away for a few days."

Doc nodded and smiled. "That is understandable in the circumstances. I don't see anything wrong with that. I would imagine you could do just about anything you wanted."

"Can you give us any other details? When is the baby due? What the sex is? How fast is the gestation period going to be?" Severus wanted to know at least something about the pregnancy.

"All I can tell you at this point is, when you get back, I want you to floo me and arrange for Harry to see me twice a week. I hope to find some of those answers for you, but right now, your guess is as good as mine."

Severus sighed. His life as he knew it was going to change drastically and this was only the beginning. "How is Becca? I hope there are no ill effects from last nights happenings?"

"Becca is fine, she actually has a little more power than normal, but no other side effects from last nights activities. We will have to see if it wears off, or if she will keep it. I imagine everyone that was here last night received a slight power boost of some sort. This morning I checked out several of the healers present last night, and all of them have slightly higher magical core levels."

"But everyone you tested is alright?" Severus asked.

"Yes, everyone is fine, better than fine actually. I have detected no ill effects from your bonding in anyone I have seen so far. I am going to go talk to Sal to see what his theories on the matter are."

"We are going to pack and leave for a few days. We will contact you when we get back." Severus told the healer as he started to leave the room.

"You guys have fun." Doc smirked back at him, knowing they would likely have a lot of fun.


	68. In another Time Line

Posted: 17 January 2010

Chapter 68: In another Time Line

It had been only a week since their little spitfire had been sent to another time line. They missed her terribly from the moment she left, as if a little of themselves had gone with her. Everything was starting to break down now. The earth would shudder and the house tremble and they knew they didn't have much time to get out.

Each of the old men knew they could live for another hundred years and never be tired of being united. Now after so long together, they were like an extension of each other and they could feel the emotions of the other as if they were their own.

Standing in the long used library they were discussing the next important step of their lives. The shelves were empty but for a few books and there were only two chairs and a table left in the room. They had sent most everything with Becca, knowing she would need it more, while only keeping that which was not valuable and could be destroyed when the time came. Everything had been packed and shrunk down when their Great Granddaughter had come to them with the final plan to save the other time line.

"Sev, what do you want to do? We could go to another time line, or we could just give in to the inevitable and wait. We could make that journey into the next great adventure." The youngest of the soulmated couple said.

"We should do what we do best, protect our family and friends."

"But how are we going to do that? This world was doomed, as we knew it would be, when Voldemort started his rise to power again. Most of our friends and family are gone; do we want to join them?"

"They are always with us in spirit, my love. I think we are meant to do something else far greater. It will be for the 'greater good' of wizardkind."

"You know how I hate that phrase. I heard it too much coming from the old coot when I was in my youth. What do you have in mind?"

"There is a power surge coming, can you feel it? It's like nothing I have ever felt before. I believe we are to follow it."

"How are we going to follow it?"

"Do you remember Harry? When we were bonded and a crest of power surged through our bodies? How we first got our phoenix animagus forms? The rush you felt when the bond was settled?"

His lover and husband of over one hundred years nodded and smiled in remembrance.

"We are going to ride a greater wave of power. I think our counterparts are with Becca now and enjoying their bonding ceremony. I have seen it in the time mirror. The time window was open just an hour ago. It was good to see our little spitfire again. I think there is a new power coming and we are going to follow it."

"Sev, we can't go into a time line where there are already two of us. It would be too confusing and I don't even think the gods would allow it."

"Not us exactly, but I saw a vision last night. I was dreaming about the end and we transformed into our phoenix forms and flashed to the manor between time lines. The one you and I built with the help of the goblins, elves, fairies, and vampires; the only place where others are completely safe from the ravages of this war."

"But what will we do there Sev? We can't just stay there forever."

"No, but we wait and watch. I think Becca will send others there as they are rescued and we will be needed."

"So we will be doing what we do best, save others. I get it now. When do you want to leave?"

"We should speak with our friends and see who else wants to come. It has been our trademark for many years. We take those we can and hope for the best. Others are not ready to die and still have a mission in life, even if it is not this time line they fulfill their mission in. We ask if the others want to help create a better place, and follow this new power."

"Are they all going to come and stay with us at the manor?"

"I imagine they will go into the other time lines if they wish or they can stay with us. We may have to make it larger, expand it as needed. With a little magic, it shouldn't be too difficult to do."

"How long before we need to follow this new great power?" The green eyed man asked with a lustful glint in his eye. He had been watching his husband walk around, pacing as he explained the vision he had received the night before in a dream. Gods, but he loved to watch his lover walk with that cute little twitch of his rear. He was wearing blue jeans and a black silk shirt and he still looked sexy after all these years. His desire for his mate never had diminished with the passing of time. If nothing else, he believed it had only gotten stronger as time moved on.

"We have time turners Harry; we have all the time in the world." The older man smirked as he pulled his green eyed beauty into his arms. It was a long standing exchange of words for the two lovers. Ever since their training when Severus was pushing Harry too hard and he revolted. They now shared the memory fondly as they thought on the past.

The obsidian eyed man gently and reverently stroked his palm and thumb over the face of his lifetime lover. His fingers carding into the long black hair and stroking the scalp, pulling the face closer to his for a deep soul searching kiss.

As the heated passion flared between them, the older mate laid the younger one on the floor, the thick plush oriental carpet one of the few things of value left in the room. They blinked and their clothes were sent to the chair, neatly folded, waiting to be worn again. Both bodies were a little worn with age, but it was the infused power of the touch that spurred them on. The magic from touching and being touched by the one you were meant to spend your life with; the power that a gentle hand could create when caressing the skin of the other.

"Harry" the dark eyed man said huskily, "I swear you make me younger just being able to hold you like this." His mouth moved from the neck to the clavicle and down to the dusky nipples on the chest where he stopped to suck and pull on the sensitive spot that he knew would make the younger man jump with need.

"Awgh" the man gasped as that sinful mouth latched on to one nipple and a hand pulled on the other. "Now" said the younger man, "oh, please now."

'Tut, tut, always in such a hurry, have patience my love, there is more to come.' Was the thought that came to his head as the older lover answered with his mouth still attacking a particular weak spot on the chest in front of him.

"Your fault, always going after my most sensitive spots, just so you can watch me fall apart at the seams" he answered aloud. Oh, he was having a hard time thinking and putting a sentence together.

The head moved lower, and dipped its tongue into the small indentation on his stomach. He bucked in frustration as hands held down his hips and didn't let him move. They also didn't let him get any friction on the achingly hard part of his body that just needed a little touch, just a little relief from the blood rushing to it. 'Oh, please' he thought as he tried to buck again, almost in tears at the frustration.

Hearing the desperate cries in his head, the man administering the torture finally had mercy on the trembling mass of nerves under his body. He grabbed the blood filled organ and squeezed a little hard to control the blood flow and stop the impending explosion that was surely to come.

'Oh yes' he thought as the breathing of the body underneath him started to slow down. It would not do to have him getting too far ahead of the two, although he knew from personal experience that the younger man could still have two orgasms to his one sometimes. He moved his face lower and took in the musky scent as he took little nips and bites along his pelvic region.

Finally, finally he reached his destination and slowly moved the cavern of his mouth over the hard aching flesh. The younger man hitched his breath as the wet heat encompassed the blood filled organ, finally. Oh it felt so good, the wet thick tongue rolling over the velvet skin that strained for more. But then he did the unthinkable. The man removed his mouth and blew on the dampness creating tingling sensations up and down the hard length of manhood. Then dipping the tongue into the slit and pushing at it.

"Argh" Harry cried, panting again at the multitude of sensations running through him as he tried to buck again. "NNggghh" he muttered as the warm breath of air glided over his flesh again. Tears slowly leaked out of the emerald orbs when that deliciously sinful mouth descended again. This time though, he also felt the sensation of a slick thumb pressing against the portal that had been demanding to be filled since the man had laid him on the rug.

The older man knew he would pay for this later. Harry always gave as good as he got when they made love this way. He was achingly hard and only controlled himself by pressing his hips against the soft thickness of the carpet. It would need a cleaning charm later as he could feel the wetness that had leaked out. He almost hummed in delight and only just stopped himself in time as he knew it would be his lovers undoing and he wasn't finished with him yet.

Harry felt it as the second finger was added to the thumb and entered his body. It didn't take long to prepare him anymore as they had done this for many years and the man could play his body like a violin. Oh, the stroking felt so good and then a finger hit 'that spot' and the only thing he could think about were the stars in front of his eyes. He bucked again and realized the older man had moved and was hooking Harry's legs over his shoulders so he could position his flesh at the now prepared portal. At last, he would have what he so desperately wanted.

The older man pulled his hand out of the opening he wanted to fill. Ever mindful of the leg that had been injured in a battle years ago; he carefully placed the legs of the younger man over his shoulders as he rose to his knees. He had to move slowly as he knew from experience that the leg could cramp and that would bring the moment crashing down as he would then need to rub the muscle spasm out before continuing on. He held the hips while pulling the cheeks apart to get to the muscle winking at him, begging him to plunge into its depths. He cast a well placed cushioning charm to save his joints from a brush burn from the carpet.

His hardness was placed at the opening that was prepared and waiting for him. The older man leaned down first and kissed his long time lover with a whispered, "I love you Harry."

"And I you" was the return reply just as the hard flesh entered the body beneath it. As if it were an arrow to a target, it went straight for the spot that would unglue him completely. When he bucked this time, the hands on his hips allowed him to find the rhythm that they both were longing for. He was thrust into with the accuracy of familiarity blending in with the drive to mesh their bodies as one. It wouldn't be long now; he knew he could hold out till his lover was almost to the breaking point.

He thrust again into the place that he called home. The heat and tightness trying to milk him for the juices that wanted to spring forth. Just a little more, he thought, as the sweat beads lightly gathered on his face and chest. He could feel his impending release as the channel around him tightened with each thrust. "Mine" he cried as he grabbed the leaking flesh of his lover to milk out his orgasm the same time the younger body pulled on his.

"Mine" they cried together and fluids were spread over the chests of the two men and spilled inside the still tight channel holding the older man's organ in a death grip. They both passed out in euphoric bliss, holding each other until the darkness passed.

A few minutes later, they cleaned themselves and the carpet with a thought and were dressed to begin their task.

"We leave in three days, you floo the goblins, fairies and vampires. I will apparate to the centaurs, unicorns and acromantula. We will have to make sure we have enough food for everyone for an extended period of time, so inform the house elves as well."

"I don't want you going alone Sev. What happens if you can't get back?"

"I promise, nothing will happen, and I will keep the connection open."

"I have a bad feeling about this. I don't want you to go without me. Please Sev, let me come with you or send an elf to give them the message."

"This is not something I want to give an elf to do, so let's flash there, it will be harder to trace. I want to make some portkeys first. You can start flooing the others and get the elves to start packing."

They met an hour later and transformed into their phoenix forms before flashing to the spiders first. Their forms were the most unusual thing anyone had ever seen. A grey silver color covered Harry's form except for the outside edges framed in black from the tip of his beak to the feathers of his tale. The black outline on the tips of his feathers, clearly an inch all the way around, framed his magnificent silver color. Severus was just the opposite. Black wings covered his body with the silver outline accent an inch wide from the beak to the tail, each one an opposite of the other as they were in life; one light, one dark.

The spiders didn't live as long as wizards and the one they had to see was Aragog's fifth or sixth generation descendent. They quickly told the spiders that they had to leave their world and could no longer protect them or feed them. They asked if they wanted to come along and the King of the spiders declined. They would live off the carnage of the war for as long as this world was in existence. They knew it would not be much longer and their time had passed. He gave them one of his unhatched eggs to send to another time. He said they would know what to do with it when the time came.

The centaurs were much the same, only sending one child with them. Their number of children was few and they had seen for some years the ending of their world. As they said, Mars was brighter than ever.

The unicorns were sending two foals. They said the foals were to be mated when the time came but they knew what to do and they needed to be sent back in time. The fairies that were living with the unicorns were sending seven different colors of their species. They could live for several centuries and would help their new world understand what had to be done. They encountered several other magical creatures on their quest, all sending only one or two of their kind.

Everyone was given a portkey to send the ones going with them to the manor. They would arrive in three days so they had time to say goodbye and to pack what they needed. It was sad to see their friends stay, knowing this place would not be here much longer, but they delighted that they would someday see them in the great beyond and were comforted by that fact.

When they got back to the manor, they started giving the elves their tasks. They would have to prepare for many beings, even though they knew not many would come. The remainder of their animals on the farms and other food had to be prepared and preserved. What they couldn't harvest would later be distributed, throughout this world, by some of the others that were staying.

At Gringotts, they were already preparing for the worst. A few of the goblins were coming with them, but again they knew that most of them would stay. They sent a portkey through the mini-floo and told them they had three days to pack.

It was something like Noah's ark. Most of the creatures coming by twos but some were other numbers. Not many species were left in the inner workings of Prince Conglomerate. The company had been hit many times and indeed specifically targeted by those that were destroying their world.

Three days later everyone that was leaving arrived at Prince Manor. Everything they thought they would need was packed with them and shrunk to manageable sizes. Harry and Severus explained what they were doing and they would all go to their manor between time lines and then figure out where they wanted to go and what time windows were open.

It took a great amount of power to get everyone there and when they arrived, Harry and Severus almost passed out from shear exhaustion. It was the house elves that quickly took charge of things and established order just as they knew their masters would want. They assigned sleeping quarters after assessing the size of the facility and who needed to go where. Then they started unpacking the trunks with the food and fixed a feast for the beings that came.

When the men woke up the next day, there was a bevy of activity around them. Everyone taking up their own tasks to get everything settled, at least temporarily. They were happy the elves had seen to the feeding of the group and had organized everything as they would have, had they not been so magically depleted. The first order of business was to find out exactly where in time they were. Then they would be able to send out those that didn't want to stay.

They all watched in the time mirror as one of the time lines was destroyed from the muggles declaring war on the 'alien' world and each other. It didn't take long for their world to come to an end. It wasn't the one they came from, but it was a loss just the same.

Next they watched their own world. It was a year from the time they left; it collapsed on itself and was destroyed by the evil that had prevailed despite all their efforts. They knew it was coming, but they mourned the loss of their family and friends just the same. It took another day to focus on the time line that Becca was in. It seemed they were present with the events of five months before the Potter family was attacked. It was a good time to be here.

Harry and Severus told everyone they would be staying for a few months so they could give Becca help if she needed it. They then started sending some of their rescued beings back in Becca's current timeline as they directed. The first to go were the goblins that wanted to go back to the fourteen hundreds. They said they had a mission there and would be able to help them if they needed it in the future years. So Gringott and two of his friends were sent to the early fourteen hundreds with their many trunks that were shrunken. It had taken a few weeks for the window to open to that time period.

The vampire was sent next to the seventeen hundreds, and then the light and dark elves were sent to the eighteen hundreds. And so they went through the list. Being after being that wanted to make a difference in their new world and would tell of the coming of a child that would change the world.

The spider egg was sent to Hagrid through a stranger. It was his first year at Hogwarts and he bartered for the egg with a few Honeyduke's chocolate bars. He never knew the stranger was a vampire. The unicorns and fairies were sent to the forbidden forest in the nineteen sixties so they could help protect the creatures there. The centaur went with them as they were in the same forest.

All of the beings were warned that they could not interfere with the events that fate and time had ordained. They could only live in their own world knowing that a small child was to be born to make the magical world a better place.

Soon there were just the two men and a few other humans and dozens of house elves. They would stay and wait to see what was going to happen next.


	69. Honeymoon

Posted: 8 February 2010

A/N I am sorry I have not updated in a while. I had pneumonia and then was trying to catch up at work so came home exhausted while trying to recover and get my strength back. Hopefully the updates will start to be in regular intervals as before. Thank you for all your well wishes and to those who emailed me to see if I was alright. I appreciate that so much. Now on with our story…

Chapter 69: Honeymoon

Severus and Harry had Kreacher pack their overnight bags for a few days and went to talk to Becca. They wanted to arrange a meeting with Dumbledore as soon as they got back. Actually, Severus wanted to arrange a meeting and leave Harry home. However, they hadn't had that discussion yet.

They found Becca and Sal in the sitting room. Sal was reading a book and Becca was working on some papers for the company.

Severus spoke, "Becca, I would like you to send a note to Dumbledore, tell him that someone representing Prince Conglomerate will meet with him a week from today at three in the afternoon. Sign it Corporate Office of Prince Conglomerate. No personal signatures, understand?" He then turned to Sal, "I trust that will be soon enough? It will give Harry and me time to catch up when we get back and make plans on what we want to say to the old man."

Sal nodded his head and said, "That should be fine. Who do you want to go with us? Is Harry going too?"

Harry had just walked into the room and heard the last thing Sal had asked. "Of course I am going. I want to check on a few things while I am there."

Salazar looked at Harry and then Severus. He had a feeling this was not the last they would hear of the matter. For some reason, Severus really didn't want the younger man to go on this mission.

"Check and make sure Regulus and Moony are available. The old coot may let down his guard if he feels he is dealing with younger, more inexperienced people. I am sure he will be alarmed when we go in there with four or five people as it is. He works best on a one on one basis; makes it easier to manipulate them. He will think if one person comes, he can pull a trick or two. Also, have Seamstress Sissy make you a basilisk skin cloak while we are gone."

Salazar nodded in acknowledgement of Severus' instructions. "Do you want to tell us where you are going? What if we have to get in touch with you?" The founder smirked at him with a twinkle and a knowing smile.

"It's a surprise for Harry, but Sentry Dobby knows how to reach us." Severus paused and then added. "Find out how many of the Death Eaters were at our wedding and lost their mark. We may need to provide them protection for them. I don't imagine Voldemort is too thrilled about losing some of his stolen power. Be sure to contact the Malfoy's and let them know they can have accommodations here if they need it."

Severus changed the tone of his voice to a gentler and less business-like inflection as he addressed Becca, "Are you sure you will be alright while we're gone?"

Becca rose out of her seat to give them both a hug goodbye. "I will be fine and you two have a good trip. I will see you when you get back."

As they left their quarters, Becca called for Kreacher. They heard her tell him he was on chaperone duty again as they stepped into the elevator. Harry looked at Severus with a laugh, "Chaperone duty?"

"Yes, evidently Sal is more traditional than we first thought. He insists on having a chaperone in the room when he and Becca are together. Of course Remus Sr. and mostly Tonks and Teddy fulfill that role when we are not there. I too, thought it was amusing when I heard about it."

They finally reached the receiving room to portkey out of the manor. When Severus pulled the portkey out, Harry asked, "Aren't you going to tell me where we are going?"

"No" was the simple answer as Severus activated the disc in his hand and they were whisked away. He held onto Harry tight until the gut wrenching feeling of being pulled at the navel subsided.

"Where are we?" Harry wanted to know after a few minutes of letting his stomach settle.

"The French Ministry of Magic, we have an appointment to meet the Minister."

"I guess it's a good thing I got dressed up then. Why are we here?"

"Remus or Moony as we are calling him now, met with the minister and his assistants on New Years Eve. The minister was invited to the wedding and was not able to make it. We are here to deliver a pensieve memory as requested. It will help establish relations with this ministry as well as the others. You never know who you may need to run to in a time of crisis." Severus looked at Harry with all seriousness. "If we have problems with Dumbledore and the Wizengamot, we may need to live abroad while raising little Harry. This is what Becca calls contingency plans. That's how she convinced me to have so many people at the wedding."

"I thought we were going on a honeymoon." Harry whined at the older man.

"Patience my love, we are on a honeymoon. We are in Paris, the city of love, and have a night tour scheduled this evening to see the city in lights. We are going on a boat ride down the Seine River and we have a hotel booked next to the opera house and across from Lafayette shopping center. You will love it."

Harry smiled as they were approached by a guard.

"Bonjour Messieurs, veuillez exposer l'objet de votre visite." The guard demanded. (Hello Gentlemen, state the purpose of your business)

"Bonjour Messieur, Je suis Septime Sévère Prince et c'est mon mari Harry Prince, nous sommes ici pour voir le minister." Severus replied as Harry watched on. Severus knew his pronunciation was not as flawless as he wanted it to be, but it was the best he could do having not practiced in awhile.

"Ah, you are the gentlemen from Prince Conglomerate, the ones with the werewolves cure. I am much honored to meet you. The minister is expecting you, please come this way." The guard said.

Harry looked at Severus as they were following the guard. "I didn't know all those language lessons from the founders would be needed so fast."

"It is only good manners when traveling to address the local people in their own language. It lets them know you care enough to find out a little about their lives and makes for better relations."

"And that was spoken like a true Slytherin. Impress the people around you and keep up your mask. Don't let them know you understand everything but put them at ease by greeting them in their own language."

Severus smirked and nodded. He would turn Harry into a Slytherin yet.

They went through the corridors and up the lift to the minister's office. Standing there waiting to greet them was who they presumed to be the minister and his wife or assistant and two children about the ages of four and six.

"Bonjour Gentlemen, I am Minister Everard, this is my wife Michelle, and our two children, Jean Jacques and Jeanne Marie. We have been expecting you. When I spoke with my cousin, the German Minister, I was so regretful that I had missed your festivities. We have been quite impressed with your success of the werewolves' cure and some of the other things I have heard about."

"Thank you, Minister" Severus replied. "It is good to know we are doing some good to make our world better." He slipped his hand in the pocket of his cloak and brought forth the item he had been requested to bring. As he handed the minister a vial, he said "Here is the pensieve memory you asked for, I trust it will not be released to the public."

"Have no fear, gentlemen. Your secrets are safe with me. I would, however, ask permission for my wife to see it, also." The Minister said.

"As long as she can give us the same reassurance I have no objections." Severus responded.

The minister's wife nodded her head and said "You have my promise not to reveal anything. I too was disappointed to not be able to go to the wedding. I wanted to offer my gratitude, as my best friend in school was bitten by a werewolf a year before we graduated and I am most grateful that you were able to help her get a cure."

Well, now they knew why the werewolves were more accepted in the French Ministry and how the word spread so fast that Remus had been busy here for several days. He had said it was phenomenal how they processed the deliveries and the people volunteered to distribute the potions. There had been medical staff and ministry workers volunteering on off days to get the cure to as many werewolves that wanted it.

"You are most welcome, Madame. We are happy to be of service." Severus replied.

Harry had stayed quiet during this whole conversation. He knew in some cultures that the dominant partner was always to address the host first, unless the sub was addressed directly with the dom's permission. It was strange, but the pureblood ways were prevalent in society and he didn't want to create problems. He nodded his head in the appropriate places and let Severus do the talking.

As he looked around the room, he saw the office was decorated in mostly tables and chairs from the Renaissance period. He recognized some of the style that Severus had in his office. He looked at the two children and smiled. The little boy smiled back, but the little girl he thought was about four, turned her face into her Mother's robes in a shy sort of way and kept turning her head to peek at him to see if he was still looking at her. He thought the child was extremely charming.

After they spent the afternoon with the minister and his family, they were escorted to a nearby wizard's hotel where their rooms were booked. There was a spectacular view of the city. The Eiffel Tower was lit up and they could barely see the lights along the River Seine. They were booked on a tour at nine that night to see the lights of the city.

Harry was excited since he had never traveled before. The city was so beautiful and he hoped they could visit some of the museums during the day. As he and Severus sat in the small tour bus, Severus with his arm around Harry, they not only drove along the Seine, but saw the Arc de Triumph, the bus drove down Champs Elysees which was all shopping for about anything you would want to buy. Some of the fountains they drove by were actually painted in gold and lit up. They made plans to take a tour bus the next day to see more of the sights.

Harry and Severus were very tired by the time they returned to the hotel. They had always heard that the people of Paris were rude, but they did not find it that way. There were some rude people, but the majority of the people they met were helpful and friendly.

The next day, after a scrumptious continental breakfast of fruit, croissants and juice, they walked a few blocks to a bus stop that the concierge had told them about. The bus was a tour bus and when you bought the two day ticket, you could get off at the different sites and then get on the next bus to the next attraction. They rode the bus for an hour listening to a special recording with some small ear phones. The recording was in eight different languages and you selected the language you wanted to hear by pressing on the flag of your country. It gave you the history of the sites you were driving past and other information about the history of the city. When the two men had completed the round trip they started to get off the bus and look more closely at the unique places around the city.

Harry decided they had to come back because three days was not enough time to see one tenth of the city and he was enchanted with the history and museums. It would take at least four days just to see all of the Musee du Louvre. He thought it interesting that the huge structure was actually a castle that one of the kings of France decided was too small to live in, so he built another bigger castle and this structure was made into a museum.

For lunch, they stopped at one of the many vendor carts that sold crêpes. This one was located close to the river and across the street from the Tower. Harry watched as the vendor poured the batter on a huge flat hot plate then added whatever filling was ordered. They even had chocolate which is what he chose.

Severus, who had gotten a cheese filled crêpe, said in a snarky tone, "You will not be allowed to do that often. You have to think about the nutritional value of your food. I want a healthy baby, not one addicted to sweets. But since we are on our honeymoon, I will let it go." Severus smiled at his husband to take the sting out of his tone and then put his arm around Harry as they made their way to the line for the Eiffel Tower.

"This coming from the man who lets Becca eat those pickles with chocolate sauce? I hope you will be a little more indulgent." Harry snarked back.

"I have tried to get her to stop, but she does eat very nutritionally first and does take her vitamins every day. I have been keeping tabs on her too, so don't feel all alone."

They spend their last evening having dinner with Minister Everard and talking about some of their business strategies. They spoke about how the magical creatures were working together to make the magical world stronger and better. The two men also discussed some of the medical breakthroughs that Doc had come up with for magical core regeneration and core fatigue. It was a nice visit, but now they needed to get back home to see how Becca was doing.

Back at Prince Manor…

Becca watched as the two newlyweds walked out the door. There was something different about Harry this morning and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She looked at Sal and asked, "Did you take a good look at Harry this morning? I feel like something is different."

"Becca, they had a huge power surge last night, of course something is different." Sal looked fondly at the woman but puzzled at her statement.

"No, I think there is something else going on. I just can't put my finger on it though." Becca said, a little lost in thought as though trying to puzzle it out.

"I am sure if there is something they want us to know, they will tell us. Don't worry yourself about it sweetheart." Sal then called for another elf to come to the room.

"Yes Master Slytherin, what may Assistant Millie do for you?" the little elf asked.

"We need parchment and quills so we may write a few letters."

"Right away" the elf said as it bowed and left the room with a crack.

They worked all afternoon with the list of guests that had come the night before. Then calling on Regulus to come and tell them who the known Death Eaters were that came to the ceremony. They had to do some damage control and fast before Voldemort found out about their non-Death Eater status. Salazar still couldn't figure out how the dark marks were removed from Malfoy and Snape. He didn't want them to be in danger and he knew Harry and Severus were very protective of them also.

The Malfoys declined the offer, saying they already had contingency plans in case they were attacked in their home. They had Sentry Dobby make some emergency portkeys that would take them to Grimmauld Place if needed, buy Malfoy Manor had very strong wards and they could not add the wards to keep out anyone with the dark mark.

Severus Snape moved all his belongings to Prince Pharmaceuticals. They had a few accommodations there that he could stay in. He was not unhappy to leave Spinner's End for a while.

The only other former You-Know-Who supporters that lost their marks were Parkinson and Rasmussen whose wives were members of the women's club and had already had their marks removed. The wives were both pregnant and heard what happened to the Malfoys so decided to protect their children from a similar fate. Both of these Lords were in similar circumstances as the Malfoy's in housing and wards. They of course didn't have the money the Malfoy's had, but then again who did?

When Sal and Becca finished going through the list, it was found out that a third Death Eater had been at the festivities, but his mark was only faded and not removed. It seemed that the further away from the power blast you were, the less it affected you. They also found out that other than the seven at the altar with the two participants, the power boost for the guests was fading with only the memory of how the surge made them feel. It still was awesome to have experienced it.


	70. Confrontation with the Headmaster

Posted: 8 February 2010

A/N Sorry for the delay, I wanted to post this yesterday, but fell asleep at the computer so here it is. I want to thank Crapounette for correcting my French in the previous chapter.

Chapter 70 Confrontation with the Headmaster

When Severus and Harry arrived back home, it was to peace and quiet. They were grateful that everything went well while they were gone. Sometimes the constant excitement of things happening around them could be wearing on the nerves.

"I am going!" Harry repeated to his husband later that afternoon when Severus expressed his disapproval of the younger man going to see the Headmaster.

"Harry, please understand. I am worried about what he may do while we are there." Severus tried to make his lover see reason.

"I am not staying behind. I don't want you there anymore than you want me there. I am going!" Harry replied.

Salazar and Becca were sitting in the next room at the dining table, listening to the argument for the last half hour, sighing as there seemed to be no end in sight. Not that they were ease dropping, but you couldn't help but hear the overly loud discussion.

"Do they always do this?" Salazar asked the woman in front of him.

"Sometimes" she answered. "I have seen them go at it for hours, but it seems as if this argument is winding down. Perhaps we could suggest an alternative?"

"And what would that alternative be?" asked Severus as he walked into the room. He was tired of arguing with his new husband and had come in for something to drink. He stepped to the sideboard and poured two glasses of juice for him and Harry. The younger man had followed him into the dining room just at that moment and Severus handed him a glass while taking a sip from his own.

"Well it seems fairly simple to me. You both go but only one of you should be seen." Becca said with a Cheshire cat smile on her face. "One does the distracting, while the other does the 'snooping' in the castle."

Severus looked thoughtful for a minute and then nodded his head. "It could work Harry. If you go through one of those tunnels or use the invisibility cloak, the Headmaster won't even see you."

Harry shook his head in the negative. "It won't work Sev, he can detect me in the cloak and he would know I was there."

"Not if we time it right and you mask your magical signature." Severus responded. "If you take a tunnel and use the cloak at the same time we are meeting with him and following him to the office then he wouldn't be any the wiser. You and Sal can go into the chamber if you are very careful… No forget that, the bloody snake is still down there. I keep forgetting some things haven't come to pass yet. Forget it, you are not going."

It was Salazar that took up the conversation before Harry started his rant again. "Don't worry about my familiar, Severus. She won't hurt me and there are areas that she can't get into if I seal the doors. There are alternate routes to my chambers. We can leave through the outside exit passage after we make sure she is sealed in her nest. I wouldn't attempt it on the way in, but after I take off the enchantments that Riddle induced I will be able to control her once again."

"Salazar, I know you want to get to the time mirror, but is it worth the risk?" Severus said. "Harry has to be careful and I don't want him hurt."

"Is there a reason Harry has to be careful? Other than the fact that you are newlyweds, extremely overprotective and don't want anything to happen to him?" Salazar questioned the older man.

"He is pregnant with our second child." Severus announced to the two unaware people in front of him.

"WHAT?" Becca shouted. "Didn't he take his potion? I wasn't expecting something like this. No wonder you don't want him going to the school." She glared at Harry for insisting on going into a dangerous place when he was obviously in a delicate condition.

"I did take the potion and it didn't work. We thought it was all the power surges that keep happening around us. That perhaps it had cancelled out the potion." Harry retorted.

"What other power surges? Are we speaking as in plural?" Salazar picked up on what Harry had said.

"Well, not like the one at the wedding, that was way super wicked. But there have been a few smaller ones when we were alone."

"When do these power surges occur? How do they…

"Never mind that" Severus interrupted. He was certainly not going to tell them about their sex life. "There have been a few and Harry is pregnant, that is all anyone needs to know at this time."

Sal's eyes grew wide in understanding, and then the amusement set in. He was going to have much ammunition to tease them with in the future. He smirked at Severus and switched back to the original topic of conversation.

"Don't worry about Harry. He will be with me and will be fine." Salazar assured the older man. "How do we coordinate this?"

"Harry, didn't you tell me there was a passage from Honeyduke's Sweet Shop? Could you and Sal use that to get into the castle?" Severus asked his husband who still had a blush on his cheeks from Sal's earlier questions about the power surges.

"Yeah, it will take us right into the school and to the one eyed witch on the third floor."

"How far is the tunnel? Do you know how much time you will need to get through?" Severus asked. He looked like he was calculating in his head. Harry had seen him do this before.

"It took me about an hour the first time, at least it felt like it. The tunnel is large enough for me to walk standing upright. Do you think, perhaps, we could ride a broom to make the trip faster?"

"And let you hit your head? Not a chance."

"Sev, what if we put a charm on the brooms to not go above a meter? They do that with the baby brooms. If we charmed the broom, we could easily fly down the tunnel." Harry then turned to look at Sal. "How are you at flying?"

"A meter off the ground? I would say it doesn't really matter. I couldn't hurt myself it I fell off." Of course he didn't really answer Harry's question. He would prefer not to fly.

After discussing the details and getting Moony and Reg into the group, they made their plans to go see the headmaster in two days time.

Two days later…

Harry and Salazar used the floo network to go to The Three Broomsticks. They wanted to arrive separately from the other three in case someone noticed them. They nodded to a very young Rosmerta and ordered two butterbeers and sat down as if they had all the time in the world.

In the meantime, three soft pops of apparition could be heard across the street as Severus, Moony and Regulus arrived in Hogsmead for their appointment. As planned they were early so made their way to The Hogs Head to have a drink before going to meet the Headmaster. They went up to the bar and ordered three butterbeers from the man at the bar with a striking resemblance to the old man they were going to meet at the castle. They took their time and finished their drinks before moving out the door.

At the same time, Harry and Sal made their way to the men's loo so they could put on their cloaks and sneak out of the pub to go to Honeyduke's without anyone noticing. Since Becca brought a cloak with her and Harry had his they each could go through the crowds without a trace. There would be no magical signature that would be detectable from a concealment spell or a notice me not charm when using the cloaks and a spell to mask their own magic.

Harry kept a good hold on Salazar as they made their way through the throng of people until they were standing in front of the sweet shop. He whispered into Sal's ear to go straight to the back of the store and down to the cellar. Then he started to make his way through the store to do the same thing. When he reached the cellar and made his way to the secret passage he removed his cloak and waited for Sal to join him. He resized the brooms they were to use as he watched the door open and close with no one there.

"Sal, we need to hurry." Harry said in a loud whisper. Salazar pulled off the cloak and looked at the younger man.

"Why do I feel like a five year old disobeying his mother? I am a founder of that school and should not have to sneak into it like some recalcitrant child."

"Don't worry about it, once we get there and take care of what we need to do, you can walk in bold as you please anytime you want." Harry smirked at him. He actually thought the founder was getting a little thrill at the excitement of thwarting the headmaster in this way.

"Alright, lead the way Harry." Salazar said as they started down the stairs.

Harry placed light discs along the way as he and Sal slowly made their way on the brooms. It was like the Chamber of Secrets all over again when he lead the way with Becca and Severus in his own time line.

Severus, Reg, and Moony arrived at the gates of Hogwarts just as the time said it was three in the afternoon. They could see Professor Burbage, the muggle studies professor, there at the gate waiting for them.

Severus was the first to speak, "We are here to see Professor Dumbledore" he stated as they approached the gates.

"Yes, welcome. I am Professor Burbage and am here to escort you to the Headmaster's office" she said with a smile. The two younger men nodded in her direction but said nothing. They knew who she was, but hadn't taken Muggle Studies so she would not be familiar with them.

As they walked into the school, there were some students milling around but some classes were in session so the halls were sparsely populated. Severus looked around and recognized some of the students standing around the entrance to the Great Hall. Merlin, he thought, was he ever that young?

As they progressed to the Headmaster's office, Professor Burbage kept up a friendly chatter about the school and what they taught there. Severus, who just tuned her out, was looking around to see if he could spot some evidence of Harry and Sal. He could feel his husband was near, but saw no signs of the other two men.

Finally they made it to the Headmaster's office and after Burbage said the password to get past the stone gargoyle, they entered the stairway to 'the old coot's' domain.

Dumbledore had it all planned. He sent the Muggle Studies Professor down to greet the representative from Prince Conglomerate. She was quite a pretty young thing and he just knew that she would charm him and put the man off guard.

Little did he know, but Severus hadn't even given her a second look. He already knew what she looked like and he wasn't interested. Why would he when he considered Harry one of the most beautiful creatures to grace the earth? Of course he may be a little biased.

As the Headmaster sat at his chair, it never occurred to him to look out the window and see who came up to the gates. His head was full of plans of how to get the owners of the company to join his ranks and fight for the side of the light. He had heard they were powerful and did not side with Voldemort, so he was sure to get them to see things his way.

When he heard the knock, he noted that his guest was punctual. What he didn't expect were the other two guests that arrived at the same time.

Dumbledore stood up as he said "Enter" with his most winning smile and twinkling eyes to put the man at ease. When the three entered his office he looked at the younger men and stated, "Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin, I am very surprised to see you here. I was not aware you were coming today, but I already have a scheduled appointment."

"Yes Headmaster, we know. We are here at his request." Regulus told the old man. He could see that they had caught 'the old coot' off guard and was glad the Severus had asked them to come, if only to see this rare occurrence.

"Mr. Black, I was under the impression that you were going to school somewhere else." Dumbledore didn't like this, not one bit. He had wanted to confront the Prince scion alone, not with guests. It was very rude to not let him know that others were coming.

"Greetings Headmaster, I am Severs Masterson Prince, the corporate head of Prince Conglomerate. I hope you don't mind the extra guests. I have been out of town and we have some business to attend to later. This was more convenient for my schedule" Severus said in his silky tones that were guaranteed to put anyone at ease, except old coots that have an agenda. Dumbledore didn't look so at ease any more, as if this meeting were suddenly bothering him.

"Please gentlemen, have a seat and we can have some tea. I had the tray for two set up, but let me call a house elf for more." Just as he was about to shout for the elf, Moony and Regulus declined saying they had just come from a late lunch and would not partake of any refreshments.

Severus had warned the guys not to consume anything from the old man. He had a habit of lacing his tea and candies with calming drafts and Veritserum. It was how he got the kids to tell the truth when problems came up or arguments broke out. It was also how he got personal information about the wealth of families that were represented in the school.

After about fifteen minutes of the 'small talk' the old man was famous for, Severus tried to cut the meeting short. He had no patience for this type of prevaricating.

"Headmaster, my time is very valuable and I have many things that need to be done today. Could you please tell me what this meeting is about and why you keep sending parchments requesting my presence?" Severus admonished the old man. If they let Dumbledore have his way, they would be here until dinner and he would 'ask' them to join him in the Great Hall.

"Yes, well then, I shall get to the point. I wanted to ask you about your book that you wrote and see if you would consider joining a group of people that are trying to rid the world of a great evil."

"We have written several books, so you will have to be more specific and I assume from the second part of your statement you are asking us about joining the war." Severus had to remind himself not to act like his old self and not sneer at the idiot before him. He didn't want the old man to associate him with the current Severus Snape.

"To put it bluntly, yes, and I was referring to the book about Voldemort."

While Dumbledore's focus was on Severus, Regulus rose out of his seat and approached the fire phoenix that was on the perch in the corner of the room. Since Harry was not going to be in the office with them, he made the other three men promise that someone would check on the beautiful bird and make sure it could get away from its perch and was not chained to it as the other Fawkes had been. So Reg saw his opportunity as the Headmaster and Severus were arguing about what the old man wanted from them.

"The book is what it is Headmaster. What do you want to know about it?" Severus answered. It seemed self explanatory to him, what was to explain?

"Where did you get your information?" Dumbledore asked.

"That's privileged information."

"Who wrote it?"

"The book had several authors as it was a great amount of information and not collected by one person." Severus felt confident enough to be able to impart that little bit of explanation of the book.

"Can I assume that one of the writers was a Death Eater?"

"That is privileged information."

"Are you sure you wouldn't like some tea?" Dumbledore must be getting desperate to offer a second time.

"No thank you."

"Was your family close to the author?"

"That's privileged information."

"Where did you first start your company?"

"Germany" was all he said, not giving the man any details. He knew the German Minister would back him up.

Dumbledore was getting frustrated. This man was not cooperating at all and he wouldn't drink his tea either. He wanted to scream and pull out his wand and legilimens him to get his answers. Perhaps he could get away with it if he could get the man to look him in the eyes.

"Professor, if this is just an interrogation then I have to say, we need to be going. I am not in the habit of being questioned about my company's secrets, nor about my personal life. If there is not anything else you need, then we have come to the conclusion of our visit." Severus had felt several spells come his way and he was not happy about it. The old coot was trying to get him to talk.

"Wait" the old man said as Severus started to stand up out of his chair. "Would you be willing to join a few others in the fight against Voldemort?" Now he changed the topic of conversation, Severus thought. I wonder what he is up to.

"I really have no intention to get any farther involved, I have a family to protect, as well as many employees."

"But if you joined us, we could help protect you, your company and your family." This was always Dumbledore's trump card that had others falling for his schemes.

"Headmaster, I know you don't know me but I assure you, I can take care of my family and employees on my own without your help. How would joining your little group benefit me if I gave my pledge of loyalty?"

Aha, the Headmaster thought with the twinkle back in his eyes. The boy is a Slytherin and quite a good one in fact. He would have to give this information a little thought on the best way to approach the man. The fact was he was finally getting a small bit of the knowledge he wanted and now didn't want the trio to leave. He barely registered that Regulus Black had gone to pet his bird. He was used to people being curious about him. Phoenixes were very rare.

"We would give you backup and pass information on to you from the enemy's camp. We could be very good allies." The merry little twinkle changed to a cold steel and determined look. "Think about this Mr. Prince, it would not be a good idea to stay neutral in this war, when you have already waged a battle by printing all their secrets."

"Why Headmaster" Severus replied to the veiled threat, "what makes you think I printed all of their secrets?" He then stood up and wished Dumbledore a good day, calling his companions to leave with him as he noticed Regulus step away from the phoenix's perch, signaling that his task was completed.

As they walked out of the castle, there were many students staring at them and a few that you could hear say, "That's Regulus Black, I thought he was going to school somewhere else?" Another student replied "No, my father said the Dark Lord had him killed for wanting out. He doesn't look very dead to me."

They ignored the rest of the speculations and gossip as they walked out the door.


	71. Here Come the Babies

Posted: 13 February 2010

Chapter 71 Here come the Babies

Every since Dumbledore's veiled threats, the Prince family and those extended family members had to be more careful. That day had become a turning point for the business and the Prince family personally. Harry and Salazar were successful in getting to the Chamber of Secrets undetected. They obtained the time mirror so at different intervals, when a window was open, they could watch past, current and future events. Sometimes the future events were murky and Sal said that was because they were not set in stone and could change with time.

Salazar's beloved familiar was put to rights and that nasty old spell that Tom had used to control her was no longer a problem. It had been a good spell according to Sal and they ended up modifying it instead of removing it. Now it was attached to Salazar so Tom couldn't have power over her anymore. They fixed up a nice warm place for her in a huge fireplace in the Chambers. They had even managed to take two of the Hogwarts mirrors. The room with the viewing mirrors was almost identical to the one in the other time line. Harry was reminded how he almost lost Hedwig when she flew away just before the Headmaster came after her in his own time. Sometimes it was quite strange seeing things newer and other people younger than he remembered. It had a surreal feel to it while he was in the Chambers.

Regulus had found certain restrictive spells on Fawkes' perch, but not the one that chained him to the perch. He was able to disable the spells without the Headmaster finding out as the old coot had been engaged in a heated 'discussion' with Severus. He smiled at the memory. If he had attempted anything like that just four months ago he would have botched it disastrously. He and Moony both were trying to understand why the old man had threatened their boss. It just didn't fit with their version of their former Headmaster.

Harry would never forget the look of agony on Severus' face when they finally flew on the brooms out of the Forbidden Forest Exit. He and Sal had spent more than three hours in the Chamber and it was two hours longer than planned. The feeling of relief the older husband felt, on seeing Harry safe and sound, almost had his legs buckling. Harry hadn't realized just how worried Severus was about his well being. Not for the first time he thanked the Gods that they had found each other.

After a few of the Hogwarts graduating students applied for jobs with Prince Conglomerate, they caught three that were new Order of the Phoenix members. They had to immediately put a freeze on hiring anyone in the company except other magical beings until they went through the entire list of personnel, both magical and muggle, to catch any more of Dumbledore's lackeys. There were a few that had some sort of tie to the Headmaster, but in order to keep their jobs, they took a Wizard's Oath to not reveal anything that was going on within the company, or about the company to anyone outside their walls, or who was not a superior in the company. It seems the memo that had been circulated before somehow missed the newer people that had come to work since the notice was first sent.

Severus, Regulus, Moony, Harry and Salazar had been updating the text books that would be out for publication. The first year texts were almost complete and would be out before the supply lists were issued by Hogwarts. They already had orders for them in some of the other countries, so each text came with its own translation charms so the student would be able to read the book in their own language. Becca, when she wasn't resting, was working on several children's books, but they were waiting till the baby was born before trying to finish them or publish them. Everything was running very smoothly. It was almost a recipe for disaster; nothing every stayed smooth where Harry Potter was concerned.

On June fourth, just before dinner, they received a floo call from Lucius that Narcissa had gone into labor and he was taking her to St. Mungo's. Becca volunteered to take care of the twins, but Lucius said for now he was letting the house elves take care of things as Becca was nearly seven and a half months pregnant herself and he didn't want to further burden her. Walburga was going to stop over there later to check on things after seeing them at the hospital.

The Malfoy's were still not officially associated with the Prince Company so the Prince family could not be at the hospital to support Narcissa and wait with them. They had to be content with waiting at home for the news that Draco Lucius Malfoy was born. According to the other time lines, the wait was going to be awhile as he was born on the fifth of June. Of course, Becca being pregnant with Evan and Harry pregnant with another child proved that they had changed some events in history. It was hard to predict what would and would not stay the same even with the time mirror.

They received word at five the next morning that after eleven hours of labor Narcissa had a healthy baby boy and both mother and son were doing just fine. Becca envied her as she looked at the huge protruding ball that was supposed to be her nice flat stomach. She wouldn't trade this experience for anything, but she really was ready to be over the pregnancy.

She looked over at Harry who was now sporting a good size baby bump of his own. Doc had guesstimated that Harry would give birth about a month or so after Becca would. Some guys had all the luck. The only thing they could think of is that, for some reason, the power boosts Harry and Severus experienced prior to and during the wedding, accelerated the gestation period for the infant. They hadn't as of yet told anyone if they knew what the gender would be.

As spring turned into summer, Becca spent most of her time with Harry lying on the sofas in the sitting room with their feet propped up, and trying to think of weird things to eat to aggravate the men in the house. They were sure that Severus and Salazar had absolutely no sympathy as far as the carriers were concerned. Remus and Tonks would bring Teddy and visit with them sometimes, but Tonks knew the hyperactive two year old would be a little much for the two pregnant carriers, so their visits were few. Harry thought he might make Severus carry the child next time, but he knew that idea would never come to fruition.

"How about chips and sardines swimming in cream and chocolate?" Becca announced to Harry as they were both had just woken up from a light snooze.

"Maybe, but change the sardines to anchovies. That would do the trick." was the comeback from the young man as he lay on the sofa shifting around a bit to get more comfortable.

"How about apples dipped in mustard sauce with chocolate sprinkles on top with diced onions." Becca quipped back.

"I don't know, I don't think the baby likes onions, how about diced radishes instead?"

They were not even paying attention to the two men that had entered the room about five minutes ago.

"What are they doing?" Salazar whispered to Severus as they stood in a darkened corner to watch the two banter back and forth.

"Trying to make each other sick, it appears to me."

"Do they really crave those things?"

"I don't know and I really don't want to find out. They have been keeping the house elves busy with their concoctions of odd foods. The other day I heard Becca tell one of the elves that she wanted pomegranates of all things, absolutely had to have some. She was most upset to know they were not in season and the elf could not acquire any. When she started crying, the elf was so distressed it contacted a cousin of a cousin with a good friend that had a brother to a house elf on a farm. They finally located some late blooming fruit in the southern most part of Europe. The season usually ends in May there but one grower was experimenting with making some of the trees bear fruit longer with weather charms. It also seems that in the Northern Hemisphere the season doesn't start until September so she is demanding them in the middle of both seasons."

"Pomegranates? What did she want with them?" Salazar asked.

"Apparently she wants to mix the seeds in with her strawberry ice cream and chocolate sauce with pickles. I have noticed that chocolate is always a running theme in these food fantasies of theirs."

"Do you think we should put an end to it?"

"No, I think she and Harry have made a game of it to see who can come up with the most disgusting idea in hopes of gaining our sympathy or perhaps to punish us because we are not the ones pregnant, I haven't decided which.

"We can hear you guys you know." Harry said in a loud voice from across the room to where the two men were hiding in the corner. "Do you want to make a suggestion or just talk about us behind our backs?" He was acting grumpy, no not acting, he was grumpy but he couldn't help it.

"Harry, love" Severus approached the young man cautiously. "We only thought you were asleep when we came in and didn't want to disturb you. We would never talk about you behind your backs." Severus was so praying to not have a repeat of last week when Harry put him out of the bedroom for three days because he suggested he get some new clothes as his old clothes were too tight. He then had Seamstress Sissy modify all Harry's clothes without him knowing about it so they would fit and he wouldn't be upset. He was thinking about that day as he unconsciously rubbed his left forearm where he swore he could still feel the effects of the stinging hex Harry threw his way.

"Come sit here Severus and give me your hand." Harry demanded softly. Severus approached the younger man warily and sat down on the small table in front of the sofa that Harry was laying on. He gave his husband his hand, not knowing if Harry wanted to hold it or bite it. He would be very grateful when he was over the pregnancy hormones. Doc said he thought Harry had it worse because of the accelerated pregnancy and everything happening too fast. Severus certainly hoped he didn't go through this every time they had kids. He was sure they would want more, but right now he was willing to stop at two just to avoid the mood swings again.

Harry gently pulled his husband's hand toward his belly. The baby had started kicking up a storm earlier and he was sure Severus would want to be a part of that. He carefully moved Severus' hand around until he felt the baby move again. Then Harry put his own hand on top of his husband's so he would not move it. After a few seconds, the little slugger kicked a good wallop into the palm of his father's hand.

Severus nearly jumped he was so startled. Harry's stomach was moving and visibly kicked his hand, nearly knocking it out of place. He looked at the younger man, who by now had a huge grin on his face. Harry nodded to him and moved Severus' hand again to where the fetus had moved. Again Severus was kicked.

"Is that the baby?" He asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I am betting on a beater with that kind of activity. Sometimes the baby wakes me up at night with the acrobatics going on in there." They still didn't know the gender as Doc said every time he threw a spell at Harry to get a reading, the magic interfered. He had even tried a muggle machine to do an ultrasound and it shorted out. They would have to wait until the birth to find out if it was a boy or girl.

"Is that why you have been sleeping so much? Is there anything we can do to quiet the baby? Let's ask Doc if there is something you can take to settle the little one down at night so you can sleep better." Severus started babbling as he started to worry about his lover.

"Sev!" Harry interrupted his mutterings. "You are mothering me, again. There is nothing wrong and the more the baby moves, the healthier it is. This is just something all carriers have to go through. Becca has the same problem, which is why we take naps." They already had the argument about Harry feeling mothered and after Harry blew up one of the labs, Severus was very careful not to repeat that offense.

Is there anything I can get you now? Anything you need?"

"Yes, Becca and I would like some strawberry ice cream with chocolate sauce and pickles." Severus had seen this combination and knew it was their favorite. He glanced over at Becca and saw her nod her head in agreement. Sal, he noticed, was sitting on the sofa with her feet in his lap giving her a foot massage.

"I will get it right away." Severus answered Harry. But as he started to leave the room he heard Harry yell, "Don't forget the pomegranate seeds on top!"

"Yes, my love" was the reply that could be heard from the hallway as Severus made his way to the kitchen.

As time moved on and it was getting close to the middle of July, there was a tension in the manor that just didn't seem to let up. Doc was monitoring both Harry and Becca very closely as their times drew near for birth. Harry, being a male pregnancy was especially at risk, but Doc was sure that magic herself had a hand in what was happening and he didn't worry or alarm the two men. He thought things would be just fine.

Becca was two weeks away from her due date, when she cried out in pain as she and Harry were once again lying down in the sitting room, keeping each other company.

"Oh not now!" she cried "It's too soon. Not yet. Salazar!!!" She started panting and the cramping was bad. "Harry, get Severus!" Before Harry could even move, Seventh Born was making her way to the floo and transported herself to the lab. Meanwhile a house elf popped into Doc's office. The elf only said "Mistress Becca needs you!" before grabbing his hand and popping him back to the manor. All in all, it only took three minutes before the young woman had an entourage clamoring to help her.

Doc looked at his long time patient and asked "Becca, honey, do you think you can move to the bedroom?" Becca quickly shook her head no. She was not moving until it quit hurting.

Doc quickly transfigured the sofa into an examination bed and put up curtains all the way around it. Then he spelled silencing charms in the enclosed area. He wanted Becca to have as much privacy as possible for the examination.

After he looked at her and finish his exam, he quietly told her that she was not really in labor, but this is what they called false labor. She was only dilated two centimeters and would have another few weeks wait from what he could tell.

"Are you alright to see the family, or do you want me to leave the spells as they are."

"No, I want to see them. That's why Harry and I stay in this room. It's too confining in our bedrooms when we have to rest all the time." He knew that even as a small child, she always liked to have a small cot in the library with one of her grandfathers rather than be in her room when she was sick.

"Alright, honey. Let's let them know what is going on before someone else needs me because they had a heart attack."

He removed the spells and took down the curtains and charms. When he told them what exactly was going on, he could see all of them breathe a sigh of relief. It wouldn't hurt the baby to be born two weeks early, but the nine month gestation was best.

Almost two weeks to the day, the cramping started again. It was the thirtieth of July and Becca had been having back pains all morning. She didn't feel like eating lunch and was restless and out of sorts. As she was lying in the sitting room with Harry while reading a book, she shouted as the pain in her back traveled to the front with a hard spasm.

"Harry, I think it's time." That was all Becca had to say before Seventh Born once again went to the floo and activated it to get to the lab. The house elf popped into the medical ward to get Doc. He was in the middle of seeing a patient when the elf came in and grabbed his hand and transported him back to Mistress Becca without a word. It was a good thing his assistant was in the room with him and could take care of his appointments.

"So, little girl, are you ready this time?" the Doc asked his favorite patient.

"I" Becca stated firmly, "was ready two months ago. I think the correct question would be 'is the baby ready'. All I can say is it better be; I want to see my feet again."

Doc let out a chuckle and asked Becca, "Do you think you can get to your room?"

"You will have to help me. I don't want to have the baby in this room. Severus, Harry and Sal should be in there also." Becca said. She wanted the men to experience the birth of their son, but she wanted Salazar to be there for love and support.

"That can be arranged. I will call to the clinic and make sure a nurse comes when the shift changes. For now we just need to monitor you and track your progression."

When they got into the bedroom, Doc checked Becca and was surprised. "Becca" he said quietly, "the baby hasn't dropped into the birth canal. We may have to do a caesarian birth. You are ready to give birth, but the baby is too high."

"I don't know what that means. Is the baby ready to come out or not?"

"I would say the baby isn't ready, but your body is. We can wait a little while before making any decisions, but you need to get up and walk around to see if he will drop lower for a natural birth."

Doc then explained to the men what was happening. Severus and Salazar took turns walking with Becca for the next few hours. She couldn't take it anymore.

"That's it, I have had enough. Go tell Doc we are going to do the caesarian birth and quit all this waiting and walking. My feet hurt and I can't stand any more." She then turned to Sal who just so happened to be the one by her side. "Please" she almost begged "take me back to my room and let me lie down."

Salazar looked into her face. Her cheeks were flushed from the exertion of walking, her hair was sweaty and matted and there were dark circles under her eyes and to him she was the most beautiful person he ever met. He did as she requested and told Doc that she could not wait for the natural birth, she wanted to have the baby now.

Doc had taken the time Becca was gone to sterilize the room and make it suitable for surgery. He had a feeling it was going to be this way and he wanted to be prepared for anything. When Becca got into the bed, it was a hospital bed in place of her normal one. She sighed with relief as she lay back down on the mattress.

"Becca, I am going to need a nurse to come and help with the surgery. I also want a backup in case there is anything that needs taken care of while we perform the surgery. Are you alright with this?"

Becca nodded her head and closed her eyes. She was so tired.

By the time everything was in place and Doc felt Becca was ready, it was approaching midnight. She asked Doc to put it off for fifteen more minutes so the baby would have the July thirty-first birthday. At exactly 12:01 AM on July thirty-first, Evan Sebastian Prince was born.


	72. St Mungo's and More Babies

Posted: 13 February 2010

Chapter 72 St. Mungo's and More Babies

It was July thirtieth, close to midnight, and some one was screaming from one of the delivery rooms. "James Potter, if you ever come near me again I am going to kill you."

"That's alright, Lily" the object of the woman's curse said, "When you get through this, I promise you can do anything you want." James Potter was no fool. He had heard about the pain of childbirth and he was going to tell Lily anything he needed to so she would calm down. He had already been on the wrong side of her temper more times than he could count, since her pregnancy started, and he just wanted his wife back to normal.

At the stroke of midnight, Lily was pushing for all she was worth as her son tried to make his entrance into the world. At one minute after midnight, the nurse finally said that her healthy bouncing baby boy was finally born. At five minutes after midnight, the nurse laid the baby in his mother's arms. He was all cleaned up and the doctor was finishing up with the afterbirth and the mother was cleaned up also.

Lily took one look at her sleeping infant and smiled. Now this was more like it. She was still stiff and sore from the delivery, but the beautiful and precious gift in her arms was well worth the effort. It was love at first sight and as James was looking at their little bundle of joy, she forgave him for whatever he had done wrong. She couldn't even remember his multitude of sins she had been listing in the back of her head.

When the baby started to fuss, she brought him up to her chest for his first feeding. The wonderful feeling of being able to do this was phenomenal and she wanted to keep her baby safe forever.

When the nurse came in a few hours later with papers to sign, Lily and James had Sirius sign as Godfather and Alice Longbottom was listed as Godmother. Alice was actually just making her way to the hospital, but it wasn't to go and see Lily. It was straight to the delivery room for her, and her own little bundle of joy. When Lily found out she had gone into labor, she was so excited. Their children would grow up together and would have the same birthday.

She fell asleep and woke a few hours later. Calling for James who was in the waiting room with Padfoot and Moony, she tried to get her husband's attention. James, who was still excited about his new heir and the wonderful feeling of being a Dad, didn't hear her at first but came running when the nurse flew into the room to find out what the problem was with Mrs. Potter.

"I want my husband to go check on the Longbottoms, they are around here having their baby too. I want to know how my friends are doing." Lily said pleadingly to the nurse.

A minute later James came rushing into the room asking, "What's wrong? Did something happen to my wife or my son?"

"No, Mr. Potter. Your wife wants you to go find out about the Longbottom family. They came in a while ago." The nurse then left the room, after checking on the baby and mother.

"I checked on them while you were asleep. Alice is still in labor and they said it would most likely be another few hours before the baby was born. Don't worry, I saw Frank for a few minutes and she is doing fine." He assured his wife.

"Did you tell him about Harry? We need to have Alice sign the birth certificate as Godmother." Lily felt compelled to remind her husband who was known to forget things when he was with his friends.

"We have time for that and she can sign them after little Neville is born." James saw that his wife was tired and starting to fall asleep again so he sat with her for a few minutes and then left the room when she slipped into slumber.

Padfoot and Moony were still in the waiting room. They had to be just as tired as James felt after not having any sleep the night before. He knew that his friends had come to support him and then stayed to support Frank as well. They at least had gotten some sleep on the chairs in the waiting room, instead of listening to Lily shout curses at her husband. He wondered how Frank was doing right now with Alice.

As they were sitting there waiting for word on the new delivery, Albus Dumbledore came into the room to see James.

"So, my boy, I hear congratulations are in order. How are Lily and little Harry doing?" the old Headmaster asked. "Has anyone heard about the Longbottom family yet?"

"Hello, Headmaster. Lily and baby are doing just fine and Alice hasn't delivered yet. Frank's mother was here a little bit ago, but went to go get something to eat in the hospital cafeteria." James informed the old man.

Albus Dumbledore then turned to one of the other men in the group. "Mr. Black, I thought you would be here with James. How is your brother doing? I saw him a few months ago in a meeting with Severs Prince of Prince Conglomerate, but haven't seen him since."

"What was my brother doing in your office with the head of that company?" Sirius spat out. "I didn't know he was still working for them."

"You would have to ask Mr. Lupin, who was also there at the meeting. I was ascertaining if they would be a likely ally and to see where their loyalties lay. It was a most interesting gathering." The old man said.

Moony, who hadn't said anything at this point, wondered what the old man was doing. It seemed to him that he could have just not said anything instead of instigating what he knew would be a disagreement between the friends. He decided to do some damage control.

"We were there at the request of our boss. Although Regulus works in a different sector of the company and we rarely see each other. To be honest, I didn't even know he was coming until we all met at Hogsmead. I can't even remember the last time I saw him before that." Well, Remus, thought to himself, that was not exactly true. He had seen him the day before, but he wasn't going to get into it with Sirius about whom he worked for and what his brother was doing.

They visited for a little longer and then the Headmaster took his leave to go find Frank Longbottom. Sirius turned around to his friend and said, "You didn't tell me you had seen my brother. What is he doing?"

Moony wasn't sure how much to tell him. He was the brother of Regulus, but Sirius seemed to be still harping on his 'once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater' mind set. He didn't give anyone the benefit of the doubt.

"He finished his NEWT's early and he is now helping to write some text books for a few schools, while incorporating the revised pureblood philosophy." Moony informed him cautiously.

"More of the pureblood crap. I should have known. Is that what that company of yours believes? That the purebloods are better than everyone else?" Sirius asked in a sourly tone.

Moony just knew this was going to happen as soon as Dumbledore's words left his mouth. He told Sirius, "They believe that all magical creatures contribute something to the world. They believe that squibs should not be sent to the muggle world and instead treasured as rare and special people. Many purebloods are calling the Revised Pureblood Ways. Did you ever read that book I gave you?"

"Yeah I read it, but I think it is still a way to get people on Voldemort's side with the pureblood supremacy bit. It just lulls people into a false sense of security. That is exactly what he did too, talking about pureblood ways and then started killing muggles and what they considered to be blood traitors."

"Sirius, I know you don't understand and I don't want to fight about this. If you have questions, you can meet with the people of Prince Conglomerate or even owl your brother. Or even talk to your mother, although I know that is a sore subject. Read the book with an open mind and see what you think after."

"I know what…" Sirius started to retort, but they were interrupted when Frank Longbottom came crashing into the waiting room, literally as he knocked over a chair in his excitement, to let them know that Alice had given birth to a bouncing baby boy only minutes before.

"Alice had the baby! I am a Daddy! She is doing fine! The baby is nice and healthy too!" Poor Frank was so excited he was having trouble forming his sentences. But they got the point, Alice and baby were fine and Frank was excited to be a father.

James, who had stayed silent during the conversation between Padfoot and Moony, smiled at Frank and said, "Congratulations Frank! Lily and our son are doing well also. When Alice up to visitors let us know so we can see her. I know that Lily wants to visit her and make sure that she signs the birth certificate as Godmother."

"Alice is sleeping right now, but I will be sure to tell her later." Frank said. "I have to go back now, my mother is with Alice and the baby and I would prefer to be there when they wake up. Be sure to come and visit before you leave."

When James finally arrived home to get some sleep, he started thinking about the interactions between the Headmaster and his two best friends. He couldn't help but get the feeling that the old man was trying to instigate the argument between Padfoot and Moony. He just couldn't understand why.

Back at Prince Manor…

Remus Sr. and Tonks with little Teddy had come to visit the new parents and the little baby now nestled in a cradle in Becca's room. Since Harry was not producing milk yet, Becca was going to breast feed the baby, at least for now. Although the little one was technically the offspring of Severus and Harry, it would naturally bond with the carrier as well. As it was, with two infants soon and then little Harry coming next year, it would take everyone helping to make sure they had the best of care. They wanted the little ones to know they had lots of family to count on.

"Awe, Sev, he has Harry's eyes and your chin." Tonks said as she cooed over the baby. She let Teddy see the child and told him the baby's name was Evan.

Teddy, who had never seen anyone smaller than him, looked at the child and said "Ewin". Tonks tried again to get him to pronounce it right but he repeated Ewin again and all the adults laughed. Teddy looked at the baby again and then sat down on the floor and called "Sisth" and the snake came and curled around the little boy.

"Sisth, look, Ewin" said the little boy as he showed the snake the newest member of the family.

That seemed to give the rest of The Seven permission to come into the room and see the new infant. After a brief conversation with the snakes, it was affirmed that they would also protect the little one as all the others in the family. It was Third Born that went over to the babe and then told Harry and Severus that he was to be the little one's familiar. That meant that only Second Born and Fourth Born were still without masters. It had not been official, but Harry had a feeling that Sixth Born was Teddy's familiar, even though the child did not have the ability of Parsletongue. It didn't seem to matter to Teddy or Sixth Born though, as the snake always came when the little boy called.

Harry thought that the other two were going to be for the child he was carrying and for little Harry when he arrived. He wasn't really sure. When Salazar and he went into the Chamber they didn't ask about the possibility of another group of snakes. In fact, from the information they had from the other time lines. His time line was the only one in which The Seven had been discovered, but that had been by accident. When they take another trip to the chamber, they would have to find that out.

Early one morning about a month later…

"Sev" the young man said "wake up. Please Sev, I need you to rub my back. It hurts."

"Mmmm?" came the sleepy reply. "What do you want?" The older man checked the time and mumbled, "Harry, it's four in the morning, go back to sleep." Then he slid his arms around his husband and went back to sleep.

"Sev, please" came the plea from Harry. "Please Sev." This was accompanied with an elbow into the sternum.

"Umph" Severus woke up again with a grunt. "Harry, it's four in the morning. What could you possibly need at this hour? Go back to sleep." Said the grumpy voice next to him.

"Sev, please. My back hurts and I need you to rub it." Harry was the one getting irritated now. Why couldn't he listen?

"I'll do it later Harry, go back to sleep."

Harry slowly made his way out of the bed and put on his slippers. He had gotten into the habit of wearing a night shirt to bed because his sleep pants didn't fit and the shirt was easier to get on. He decided to go see if he could get Becca to rub his back or perhaps get Kreacher to do a heating charm to help relax it. His magic had gone all 'wonky' in the last few weeks. At least that was how Doc described the strange power fluctuations of late.

He knocked on Becca's door. She must have been awake, because she answered right away.

"What's wrong Harry? Where is Severus?"

"He won't wake up. Can you rub my back? I must have slept wrong and it really hurts."

"Harry, how long has your back been hurting?"

"I don't know, I woke up like that. The baby is kicking a lot too. My body feels like a Quidditch field."

"Harry, I think we need to call Doc to come and check on you. You may be going into labor."

"But I've only been pregnant about five months, it's too soon."

"Remember, your pregnancy is going to be shorter. It's alright to call Doc. If it is nothing then he will just go home and go back to bed. No harm done." She said cheerfully as she rubbed circles on his lower back to ease some of the pain.

"You were awake when I knocked. Were you having problems sleeping?"

"No Evan wakes about two or three every morning. I had just gotten him to sleep after feeding and changing him. Don't worry about anything. I will take a nap later."

She escorted Harry into the sitting room, getting him comfortable on the sofa with a pillow to support his back. She called for Kreacher and told him to go get Doc immediately as Harry was in pain.

Three seconds later, Doc popped in with Kreacher still in his sleep clothes and without a robed on. He was barefoot and it looked like the elf had pulled him out of bed without any warning. His hair was a mess and there were sleep lines on his cheek when he must have been pressed against the pillow.

"Darn it Becca!" the healer shouted. "Tell your elves they can't just come and pop me here when ever they want without warning. Getting me here in the middle of a patients visit is bad enough, but popping me out of my…"

He heard a cry of pain coming from the sofa that was blocked from his view. "What's the matter? Is that Harry?"

"He said he woke up with a lot of back pain. He said the baby is kicking excessively also."

Doc walked over to where Harry was resting and laid his hand on the younger man's back. "Harry, tell me what's going on."

"My back hurts and Severus wouldn't wake up to rub it. My stomach feels like the baby is kicking all over the place." Harry stopped talking and shifted again to get more comfortable.

Doc put his hands on Harry's back and stomach. After a few minutes, he turned to Becca and said, "Go get Severus out of bed, now. He's going into labor and I have a feeling it's going to be quick. We need to move him."

Then Doc called out, "Kreacher".

"Kreacher, here. Mistress Becca said get Doc immediately, Kreacher obeyed and got Doc…" the elf said, defending his actions of earlier.

"Never mind about that, I need my medical bag and wand. Can you retrieve those items for me?"

"Kreacher already took both when he got Doc. They are right here." The little elf handed the items to the healer and waited further instructions.

"Please go to the clinic and get the night nurse on duty. Tell her to send me at least one nurse to help with Harry's delivery. Tell her Mister Prince is giving birth now. Tell her to send two if she can spare them."

Kreacher bowed to the healer and popped out of the room to do as he was bid.

Becca in the meantime had told Seventh Born to go to Salazar's quarters and tell him what was happening. She also told the snake to tell Sal to let the others know. Then she proceeded to go get Severus out of the bed. Usually he would wake up in an instant, but on the one morning they needed him, he decided to sleep. 'Men' she thought as she walked to the bedroom door and started pounding.

"Come on Severus Prince, get out of that bed, Harry needs you." The woman shouted from the other side of the door.

She heard some mumbling but then silence. She cautiously opened the door and there was Severus with his arms around a pillow fast asleep.

"Assistant Millie" she called and her elf popped into the room. Before the elf could even bow, Becca whispered to her. "Master Prince will not wakeup and Harry is going into labor. Can you wake him for me?" she then crouched down very low and whispered into the elf's ear on what she wanted her to do.

The next thing they knew a bucket of ice water appeared over the man's body and was unceremoniously dumped onto the bed.

"Urgh! What the hell! What was that for?" the man sputtered when the water hit its target.

"Severus, what is wrong with you? We have been trying to wake you up and you keep going back to sleep." Becca didn't shout at him, but she wasn't speaking softly either.

"What, it's bloody four in the morning. What is so important that you had to try to give me pneumonia by freezing me to death?" the man snarled.

"Harry's in labor" was all she said before she left out of the room in a swirl of her robes that would have made Severus proud if he weren't in shock.

When he left the bedroom suite five minutes later, Harry was already in a guest room with medical equipment and the nurse installed at the ready. Doc and Becca were already in the room and Sal was waiting in the sitting room with Tonks. She said Remus Sr. was in their quarters with Teddy and would check on them later.

Severus made his way to his husband's side with an apology on his lips. "I am so sorry I didn't wake up, my love. I was having problems sleeping and took some dreamless sleep. If I had known you would go into labor I would never have done that."

"It hurts, Sev. I wanted a back rub and you wouldn't wake so I got Becca. She called Doc and the others."

"I know sweetheart, but it will get better. Just try to relax and breathe through the pain like we practiced. You will be alright." Severus held onto Harry's hand and tried to get him to calm down. He knew the more Harry tensed up, the more it would hurt.

Doc came back into the room after having been to wash his hands. Severus noticed he was in sleep clothes and not his regular day clothes. They must have gotten him out of bed too.

"Are you gentlemen ready?" Doc asked as he looked at the two men on the bed. "Harry, your birth canal is fully developed and the baby is in position. I believe this will be a fast delivery, just stay with me."

"Sure Doc, I'm as ready as I can be." Harry replied as he tensed up with another cramp of labor.

Two hours later, on September first in the year Nineteen Hundred and Eighty, Lillian Elizabeth Prince came into the world. She had dark hair and very light blue eyes and she was the perfect mixture of both of the men that created her. The delivery had been quite easy as far as birthing goes. The child glowed with the magic surrounding her for a brief minute before the bright grayish aura about her seemed to sink back into her skin. The perfect mixture of light and dark magic, the in-between magic that had never been seen before.

When Doc tried to take his medical readings, they didn't work. Just as he had tried when she was in the womb, the spells would give no reading. So he had to do things the muggle way and measure her and listen to her lungs with a stethoscope. He declared her healthy and had the nurse clean her up, put her in a nappy and pink blanket and hand her to the proud fathers.

By six thirty in the morning, they had several visitors including the medical staff from the clinic, some of their friends from Gringotts and Shashi. They also had a few visitors they were not expecting. The fairies somehow knew and came to see the infant, sprinkling some fairy dust on her as well as Evan.

It was a very exhausting day.


	73. A Prophecy and a Rat

Posted: 14 February 2010

A/N Thank you to those who reviewed. akayuri - thank you for letting me know that I was not clear on the time jump between the visitors for Evan and the morning Harry woke up with pain. Harry needed time to properly grow the fetus, but I wanted her born just early enough to attend Hogwarts with the others. I hope this explains everything.

Chapter 73 A Prophecy and a Rat

It was in the middle of October when Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his cushy chair behind his desk looking at a written version of the prophecy he had heard. He was trying to understand just exactly, what it meant, and what he could do with the knowledge. It was times like this he was extremely glad for his memory skills; he then closed his eyes to allow the memory to float before him.

FLASHBACK

It was at the end of June when there had been a meeting not too far from the school between the headmaster and a potential teacher. They met at the Hogshead Inn that his brother owned. There was a future teacher who was none other than the great-great granddaughter of the famous Cassandra Trelawney, a noted seer from years past. The woman, Sybil Trelawney was applying for the post of Divination Professor.

Now, if one would look closely, they would think the woman was 'off her rocker'. Of course, they could possibly be correct. She was not 'gifted' in the powers of Divination as much as she was gifted in believing that she had power. Dumbledore was not fooled; he knew she didn't have power. He, however, could not afford at this point to offend anyone that could remotely 'see' any of his plans. So, he had granted this 'imposter', in his opinion, an interview just to see what she had to say.

He was about to get up and leave when the woman's eyes rolled back into her head and she started speaking in a raspy sort of voice.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches....Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives....The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."

It was right in the middle of this that someone had screamed in the hallway about a rat trying to get into their room. He could hear his brother Aberforth scrambling around with a broom to try and whack at it and kill it.

END FLASHBACK

As the old man sat at his desk, he pondered what he had written on the paper so he could read the words slowly and think about their meaning. There were two babies that he knew of who fit the description 'born as the seventh month dies'. He wasn't sure which child would be the lucky one to have 'power the Dark Lord knows not'.

He had visited the hospital to see if there was something special about the baby boys; to see if they exhibited a strange aura or showed some exceptional magical residue. There was none. Of course it was a little early to tell, but he thought that only a very strong magical infant would grow up to vanquish Voldemort and that they would somehow show something that would let him know who it was.

He knew that Lily and James were very powerful and gifted, but so were Frank and Alice, the latter couple being aurors and a little older than the first couple. But, Frank and Alice Longbottom were both purebloods and he knew from years of observation that when a powerful muggleborn had children, the offspring somehow ended up with more power than usual. If he was to believe what was written in those books that company was selling, he would have to say that their theories were quite brilliant and quite possibly accurate.

Both of these families were Order members so he could keep a close eye on them. Of course there were others born on the same day, it was what had prompted his visit to the hospital. But these two infants seemed to fit the description more of parents 'who had thrice defied him'. Perhaps he could have a little chat with them in a few months and see if either of the infants was exhibiting any accidental magic.

As summer was turning into fall…

Becca had started taking walks in the neighborhood to get to know the neighbors. She had met a few of them before when working with Buddy in the garden. He was now working on the house issued to the Lupin family. Officially they lived across the street and two doors down, but they stayed underground like everyone else where they didn't have to be careful of their magic.

Buddy waved hello and stopped his weeding to come see the children. It had been warm enough to take the children for a walk in the stroller. Evan was now eleven weeks old and Lillian was six weeks old. The stroller had been charmed so that there looked to be triplets as later they would eventually have little Harry with them.

Buddy looked down at the children and spoke to Becca about how cute they were and they all looked alike but the little girl looked smaller that the other two. He didn't try to touch them or hold them as his hands were covered in soil.

"Sometimes that happens Buddy. She is strong and will grow to be as big as her brothers soon."

"Miss Becca, Mr. Lupin told me about getting the gardens fixed for winter. I need to order the stuff for them."

"That's fine Buddy, you can do that and if you need help you can ask some of your friends to come and we will pay them too." The man actually did ten yards on a consistent basis. Doing one each day of the week for two weeks then starting over again. There were several of the houses that had small greenhouses in the back yard that the elves managed, but Becca and Remus Sr. had talked about putting more of Buddy's house members to work and letting them do that also. Some of them worked in the muggle part of the publishing company also, packing boxes of books for shipment. They turned out to be wonderful workers.

"Just let Mr. Lupin know what you need and he will get it for you, Buddy. I will tell him to call you." Becca assured the young man before her.

"Thank you, Miss Becca." He replied and went back to his weeding.

Becca continued to stroll down the walkway waving hello to the neighbors that she saw and pushing the buggy with the children in it. When she was approaching home, she passed Petunia outside working in her garden.

Good afternoon Mrs. Dursley." Becca cried cheerfully. She knew Petunia wanted to pretend she wasn't there, but as other neighbors were outside watching her, she would not take the chance of them seeing her antisocial behavior.

"Good afternoon, Miss Prince. I see you have the little ones out today." Petunia returned Becca's greeting, but then turned her back and continued with her gardening.

Becca chuckled to herself as she caused a piece of trash to roll into the yard while Petunia's back was turned. So far, if Becca's count was right, Petunia and Vernon had picked up over two hundred pieces of trash out of their yard in the last two weeks. It was a small revenge, but they couldn't risk them moving before little Harry arrived. The magic need to move a piece of paper into their yard was so slight that it would not be picked up by anyone either.

She headed into the house with the sleeping infants in the stroller and continued down through the cupboard under the stairs until she got to her quarters. Once they had arrived in the house, Harry came out from under the invisibility cloak and smiled at her.

"You just couldn't resist, could you?" he said with a smirk.

"It's my only revenge right now. You should be happy. Why don't I see you doing anything?"

"Because I send others to do my dirty work." He replied mysteriously.

"What others?"

"I explained to The Seven what they were like to me, I wanted them to know so they would understand later as the little ones grow that they were to be kept away from those horrible people and their offspring. The snakes have taken it upon themselves to go over there and slither in her gardens pulling up her prize flowers or leaving impressions in her soft ground or digging holes in the earth. Sometimes they even inject some of their venom into the plant so it will die of unknown causes. She spends every day outside trying to fix the problems they create. I have fun watching from the sidelines and don't use an ounce of magic to cause the problem." By the time Harry finished explaining, he and Becca were doubled over in laughter as they entered the sitting room where Sal and Sev were sitting patiently waiting for them.

"What's so funny?" Severus asked his husband.

"We were talking about Petunia." Harry answered before he burst out in another fit of laughter.

"Do I want to know?"

"Probably not" Harry quipped back.

Severus picked up his son out of the stroller, while Harry picked up his daughter. He knew Lily was ready to be fed but Evan had already done so just before they left for their walk. Harry went into the nursery to nurse the baby knowing it would not be long before she would be feeding herself. He would be glad when his body was more normal for a man so he could take a walk in the open. Right now his stomach was still a little bigger than normal and he actually had small breasts. When he wore a coat he could cover these post pregnancy symptoms, but on a day like today, when the weather was warm he would use the cloak to hide completely. It also gave them the element of surprise if they were attacked.

"Hey my little man" Severus said to the infant in his arms. He held him with the baby's back against his chest so he could see out into the room. While they were sitting there, Third Born came slithering up the chair and into Severus' lap where the baby sat.

"_He is cold and wet_" the snake informed the father of the child.

"Here Severus, I'll change him" said Becca. But Severus had already gotten out of his seat as soon as the snake moved.

"No, you stay here with Salazar. I will go and change him." He walked into the nursery where Harry was still feeding their daughter and moved over to the changing table. He never in his life thought he would be changing nappies on his own children. He actually never thought he would have children. Now he had two in diapers and was having the time of his life taking care of the small ones.

"Harry, love, do you want to try to feed Evan too? Since we are already here and he seems to be fussing a little bit."

"Sure, bring him here as soon as you finish changing him. I will put him on the other side. Lils is not finished yet."

Severus secretly loved watching his babies get their nourishment from their Daddy. There was something deep in his heart that was touched at the thought of the two being able to nurse like that from his husband.

He turned around when he finished with Evan and brought him over to his husband. Evan, upon seeing his Daddy, squealed and started moving his mouth in a clear sign he wanted to be fed. Severus helped Harry uncover his other breast and place the child in his arm so he would be comfortable. When he watched his son start feeding, a tear formed in his eye and as he wiped it away Harry noticed.

"Everything alright?" the younger man asked.

"Have I told you how much I love our little family lately?" Severus asked in a reverent tone.

"Every day when you wake up next to my side." Harry answered with a smile.

They spend the next half hour in the nursery with the children.

Somewhere at an undisclosed manor…

The rat had finally been able to come back to his human form. He had been scrounging around an alleyway eating off of other people's scraps for months. When he had been chased around by that Aberforth Dumbledore and hit several times with the broom, he had been hurt and not able to transform all summer. His injuries had been severe and he almost died a few times just from hunger. For awhile there, he couldn't even remember who he was. But everything was fine now and he knew what he had to do.

The rat animagus slowly but surely made his way back to the Dark Lord. First he had to find out where he was, and then he had to get into the place past the wards. He found out that the others had thought he was dead so they had not been looking for him. He knew he had been missing for months so that meant the baby with the power to defeat the Dark Lord was born already. He had only heard part of the prophecy before that woman started shrieking about rats but he had heard enough to let the Dark Lord know that there was trouble brewing.

Finally, he found one of the followers and got him to bring him before their lord.

"Wormtail, where have you been!" the Dark Lord shouted to the little man bowing and scraping on the floor before him. "I thought you were dead."

"I was attacked and very badly hurt. It took quite a while to heal from my injuries. I had no medical care as I was in my animagus form." Squealed the runt of a man.

"You mean it took you four months to heal and come crawling back to me. Explain why I should let you live." The man's hand twitched as he fingered his wand.

"I…I have n…news…m…m…master." The man on the floor stuttered. "I…I… I h..hheard of a p…pr… prophecy t…that in…involves y…y…you."

Voldemort couldn't stand the stuttering and shaking of the idiot in front of him. "Someone get this idiot a calming draft, I want to hear what he has to say." He shouted to some of his lackeys in the room. He normally wouldn't be this generous, but he could have sworn he heard the word prophecy in that jumble of staccato words that left the rat's mouth.

He waited, waiting for the moment he could crucio this shaking, quivering bundle of nerves before him. He should not be so weak. What was his group of followers coming to if they couldn't stay strong for the cause? He hadn't seen Lucius Malfoy in a while either, no matter how many times he tried to summon him. That Snape fellow was missing also, but he had said he was going to be at Prince Conglomerate so perhaps he couldn't leave. They may suspect him of something, but the Dark Lord had not even a scrap of parchment from the two men that were told to gather information about the company that had published 'The Book', that was making his recruiting much harder. Parkinson was missing too and some others that he didn't even know the name of because they were lower level and were not worth bothering with.

Finally someone came in with the calming draft and helped the man, which was still crawling on the floor, to take it. Once he was calm and the potion had taken effect, the Dark Lord scowled at the quivering heap and asked.

"Now Wormtail, can you manage to tell me what you were saying a few minutes ago?" It might have been said in the form of a question, but there was not a soul in the room that didn't see it for the demand that it was.

"I… I heard a prophecy, Master. A prophecy about you." Wormtail started again. "We should be alone Master so others will not hear." The man might be an idiot, but even he knew not to say anything about vanquishing the Dark Lord in front of others.

"Everyone, clear the room!" shouted the man on the throne.

After all the followers left, very quickly, Voldemort looked at Wormtail and said, "This had better be good, Wormtail. If I find out you had me clear the room for some half baked muttering of an old hag, you won't have to worry about healing anymore."

"Yes, Master. The woman was the descendent of Cassandra Trelawney and spoke in quite a raspy voice, as if she didn't know what she was saying. She was talking to Dumbledore at the Hogshead in Hogsmead and was applying for a teaching position."

This information the rat had gotten after the meeting as he was sneaking around while his injuries healed.

"She said…

'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches....Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies..'

That was all I heard before I was discovered. It was then that I was injured and could not get back to you immediately."

The Dark Lord was somewhat impressed with this information. Who would have known that Wormtail, of all people, would be able to find out something like this and be able to deliver it to him? It did not excuse him for being weak, but for now he would not punish him.

"So, we need to find out who had a child as the seventh month came to an end." His voice drifted off as he was not really asking the fool in front of him that information. He was starting to form a plan and would need to get a few of his inner circle in here.

"Wormtail!" the lord shouted. "Give me your arm." He would call Belletrix and see if she knew anything about who recently had a baby. As he was summoning her, he put a little extra power behind the call so Wormtail did not escape his presence without a little pain. Then he decided to call a few more of his inner circle just so he could inflict a little more pain on the man sitting on the floor.


	74. War and Rumors of War

Posted: 16 February 2010

Chapter 74 War and Rumors of War

It was the first Monday in November and Becca was going to the first, Ladies Social Club, meeting since the latter end of her pregnancy. She was looking forward to seeing the women and 'catching up' with the news of how things were going. Some of them were married to men that were still Death Eaters, but only very few now. Most of the men had been freed from that awful curse and were eternally grateful. It would be her first time seeing Narcissa also, since the birth of Evan. Not everyone knew about the second child so she would be careful to not say anything with other people in the room.

Walburga was the one that greeted her as she came into the foyer. The meeting today was at her house.

"Becca. It is so agreeable to see you here today. How is the little one?" Walburga was completely out of character when she put her arms around Becca to greet her, but then whispered in her ear, "Stay after the meeting, we need to talk."

Becca gave a brief nod and lightly hugged the woman back before answering with a smile, "The little one is fine and getting bigger every day."

As she socialized with the ladies and heard all the news that she had missed while incapacitated, Becca did not see Narcissa. She hadn't heard from her either and was starting to worry about her friend.

During her time there she did find out, that through the contacts they had made, they found ten more squib children and twelve more magical squib born that were orphans of varying ages of five through eleven and they were in the process of obtaining custody on three and already had custody of the others. It seems that magical squibs are hard to find homes for as they can exhibit some 'strange' behavior from time to time and these were still in the orphanages around the country. It was gratifying for Becca to know that the search had continued even in her absence. Now that they understood about keeping the magic together, the women had become formidable in their effort to help those that belonged in their world. Naturally they would help those that were especially of pureblood heritage.

Another thing the women had been doing is inviting more witches to the meetings and helping them understand their family's residual magic in their manor homes. Some of the women were not considered pureblood, nor were they followers of Voldemort, but they were possible targets. The blood magic and power magic they could use to access the family magic, from the crests in the manor, was a lost art. The spells that Becca had shown and taught to Narcissa and Walburga were being used to enhance and even recreate the wards around their homes to better protect their families from the hard core Death Eaters that still followed Voldemort. She smiled as a few of the women even referred to him as "What's-his-name". Harry would be proud.

The best news of all was that some of the ladies that had attended the wedding were now pregnant; even one that had not been able to conceive at all. And it seemed that not only were the women embracing the new teachings of the true old ways, they were embracing the idea of helping their world to become bigger and therefore stronger. Some had even formed covens with the other women within their families and were studying the old family traditions to gather the family together in strength and harmony. In a few of the books that were to be published, these practices could be found. Becca had taken advanced copies of the books and brought some of them to give to the ladies; especially those that were married to the Lord and Head of House of the prominent families. A family that studied together, practiced together and carried on family traditions together, was a family that stayed strong together.

In all of these revivals of the old practices, there was one very strong theme; keep the family safe and powerfully protected and think for yourselves. Do not follow someone else unless it was for the good of the family, and helped to keep them safe. It worked something like this; your gifts come first, they protect the family; your family was next because in keeping the family together, there was power in numbers; prosperity always followed in work and investments when the family worked together and then entertain other teachings outside the family. They were taught that when the family is in discord, the combined powers weaken and the posterity was divided. These women would be the forefront of the new world of wizardkind.

The meeting was coming to a close and Becca had answered many questions about some of the rituals and spells that were written about in a book called, A Woman's Guide to Strengthen the Family, Back to the Old Ways. After the women left and it was just her and Walburga, the older woman went to another room and came back with Narcissa Malfoy.

"Narcissa!" Becca cried in excitement at seeing her friend. "I thought you hadn't come!" She pulled on her friend's hand and they sat down to chat.

"So tell me, how have you been? How are the babies? Is everything alright?" Becca watched the other woman's face as she looked at her aunt and then back at Becca.

"The children are fine, but I needed to talk to you. Lucius has moved us to the Summer Villa in France for safety reasons." Then she started to tell her story. Bella had come to her about babies born in July and had alerted Narcissa that the Dark Lord was on a quest to find one with the power to vanquish him. Bella had told Narcissa it was imperative that all their contacts be used to locate the information. Narcissa, she knew, had contacts at St. Mungo's and with some of the other midwives and could get this information. The staunch Voldemort follower new of the ladies meetings and although thought they were too trivial to attend herself wanted Narcissa to question the women. She even questioned the birth date for Draco.

"Becca, I was so scared she would realize I didn't have the mark anymore. She has always been so enamored with the Dark Lord that she is blinded to his faults and his cruelty. Bella has always been a little on the cruel side herself, even as we were growing up. I couldn't let her get near my children for fear she would do something to hurt them. Thank the goddess they were sleeping during her visit so I had an excuse not to disturb them."

Becca glanced over to Walburga and could see that she, too, was worried about her niece and the children. "So what are your plans now?"

"My sister knows very little about the Malfoy family. We have let it be known that we are helping an aunt of Lucius' with her estate in France as she has not long to live. Since he is the Lord and Head of the Malfoy family this is not an unusual request. It also excuses Lucius from meetings as the farther we are the weaker the call. We hope to come back when the suspicion of Draco being this prophesied child blows over. I just don't know what to believe about this situation."

"Narcissa, you do know that Draco is not the prophesied child, don't you?" Becca wanted to reassure her friend. "Did Bella tell you anything about what 'that man' was told?"

"Something about as the seventh month dies. I know it is not Draco, but then I was afraid that I might give away the information about Evan's birth. I didn't want anything to happen to you or him."

"Narcissa, the prophesied child is not Evan either. Do not worry about this any longer. I will tell the men when I get home and we will work this out. I already know who the child is."

"You do? I thought..." Narcissa faltered a bit then said, "I thought when she said, a child born as the seventh month dies, that for sure it would be Evan, given the power of his parents."

"I will say this if you give me your oath not to tell anyone." The other two women nodded even as Becca cast a silencing charm around the three of them. "Evan is not the prophesied child; he is born FROM the prophesied child of another time line. That child was thrust in front of the mad man, who tortures for amusement, with no training and no true understanding of what was going on. He was thrust into the fray alone with no one to help, even though he was a child facing a grown man with years of experience. He was set up for failure by those that were believed to be of help to him. So we came back in time to set things right."

"Then you should know the Dark Lord is searching for this child so he can kill him before he grows up to become a threat." Narcissa responded.

"I know, but he will not succeed. I am glad you gave me this information. It is time for the next step in our plans. Please tell Lucius to be careful and all will be settled by this time next year. I do need to speak with him if he is staying out of town. There is something we need from him to make our plans successful." Becca said mysteriously. She did not know if Narcissa knew of the diary that belonged to Tom Riddle, but she didn't want to say anything without Lucius there.

Becca looked both Walburga and Narcissa in the eye before saying, "You must be extra careful. Do not go anywhere without your cloaks on. The basilisk skin is spell resistant. Warn Lucius to do the same. Keep your emergency port keys with you at all times, just in case someone tries to abduct you." She turned to speak to Walburga, "Your son, Regulus, always wears his all the time, we require it of him."

Narcissa then asked Becca worriedly, "The war is escalating then, isn't it?"

"Yes. You both know that we can protect you if you want to come to Prince Manor." When they started to object she said, "I know you want to stay in your homes and you feel as if you are abandoning them by leaving, but remember your training. No one will be able to get in the house if you are not here. You can set the wards to allow no one entry in your family home. Also, it is not cowardly to seek safe shelter for your children. They must be protected for future generations."

Walburga answered the young woman and said, "Its not just abandoning our homes, Becca, it's the other women that need the information we have. It's the lessons on keeping their homes safe and its giving them a choice when we find another Death Eater wife that is scared for her family as Voldemort loses more of his sanity."

Becca nodded to them, knowing that they knew the risks. "Just remember what I said about protecting you."

After the two women nodded their understanding, agreeing to think about it if things got any worse, Becca took her leave saying she needed to let the others know what Narcissa had told her. She hugged both women before she left admonishing them once again to be careful and to let her know if they needed any help.

When she arrived at the manor…

"Severus!" she shouted as she entered their quarters, "Harry!" she shouted again, "Salazar" she shouted the third name. 'Men' she thought to herself, 'they are never there when you need them'.

"Seventh Born" she said just as her familiar came into the room.

**"_Do you know where the others are?"** _Becca hissed at the snake. At the snake's nod she then asked, **"_Can you get them for me, it is an emergency."**_ The snake slithered off to collect the residents of the manor and Becca went to the floo to call the others.

"Gorbink, we need to have a meeting as soon as possible. Can you come here now or are you busy?" Becca asked the goblin without even a greeting of any kind.

"I can arrive now." The goblin said, realizing something was wrong just by the way Becca had addressed him. She cut the floo call off and then made another.

"Shashi, I need to meet with you and the others right now. Are you free and able to come?" The elf was surprised at the urgency in which he was spoken to and decided he would cancel his appointments and come see what the problem was.

"Can you give me five minutes to clear my schedule?" he asked.

"Yes, it will take me that long to gather the others. Thanks." Becca cut off that floo call also to make her next call.

"Regulus, I need you here as fast as possible." Becca stated as soon as she made the next connection.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked in surprise at her abrupt manner.

"Yes" was the only answer he received before she cut off the call so she could make another to Moony, Snape, Remus Sr. and Tonks.

So in the space of five minutes, Becca had all the people that had come from the other time lines to save baby Harry, as well as those recruited later.

Just as she completed her floo calls, Severus and Salazar came into the room. "What's wrong?" Severus asked immediately he spotted her in the room.

"Where is Harry? I have arranged a meeting to take place, now. I have information everyone needs to hear and we have to make plans."

"I think he is in the nursery with the children. Do you want me to get him?"

"Please" was the terse response.

Severus left the room to locate his husband, wondering what the problem was when everything had been going so smoothly.

When Severus returned to the sitting room with Harry in tow, he was surprised to see the room filling up with everyone that could possibly be connected to their organization in any kind of managerial capacity. Those that were connected to Becca from her own time line and those connected to Severus and Harry as well. He wondered briefly what had her so panicked to demand such a meeting.

"Everyone, I believe we will be more comfortable in the dinning room as it will sit us more comfortably." So they all gathered in the room where tea and refreshments already set out by the elves. Severus was amazed at how fast everyone responded and the room was full to capacity. He didn't count them but he knew there were over twenty people in the room all waiting to hear what Becca had to say.

"Today" she started to announce, "I spoke with one of our contacts and found out that Voldemort has been told about the prophecy!" she didn't prevaricate with the news, but was blunt and to the point.

"What?" "Not Possible!" "How?" "So soon?" "What prophecy?" Everyone had started talking at once until Sal did a very un-Lord like thing and let out a shrill whistle to get everyone's attention.

"Settle down everyone. Obviously this was not expected this soon, but we all know this was going to happen."

"Who told him the prophecy?" Severus asked.

"I didn't find out for sure, but I have a pretty good guess." Becca answered back. She actually had not asked Narcissa, but she knew at this point, it was not Snape. He had been alleviated of his dark mark by then and he wouldn't do that anyway.

"What are the plans now that this has happened?" Doc spoke up.

"That is why you are here. So we can make the correct plans. I do not believe Dumbledore is aware of Voldemort's knowledge, so we will have to see about getting the families to go under the fidelis.

"He still does not know who the prophecy is about, so we should have some time to see how this plays out." Shashi added to the conversation.

"He has had this information for at least two weeks and is now in the process of ascertaining who the likely child may be." Becca told the group.

Moony was the one who spoke next, "What prophecy?"

"The prophecy that will escalate this war to new levels in Voldemort's attempt to circumvent it." Becca answered in a matter of fact tone.

"Do we know what it is?" he asked the woman.

Becca looked at Severus and Harry to see if they wanted to reveal the whole thing to the people in the group that didn't know it already. It was their call to divulge as little or as much information as they wanted. It was Harry that spoke first.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies. And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives....The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."

When he finished, everyone was quiet for a minute as the weight of the words slowly sunk in. Many people had known about the prophecy, but few had ever really heard the whole thing. Most just had heard the interpretation of what it meant. Remus Sr. spoke up next.

"Harry, I think that is the first time I have ever heard the whole thing." He didn't elaborate more on the subject, but just sat there with the others.

"What exactly does that mean?" Snape asked. "You obviously have more knowledge about this than we do."

"It means war will break out soon so Voldemort can try and kill the child before it becomes a threat. A child will be born at the end of July, the seventh month." Severus informed his counterpart. "I can only assume that this prophecy was given in June by Sybil Trelawney?" He looked to Becca for the answer.

"My informant didn't know, only that the prophecy was given to Voldemort. I believe that, just as in the other time a line, only part of it was heard before the spy was interrupted."

"So he will be after all the children born at the end of July? Does that mean that Evan is at risk?" Moony asked the group.

"Evan is always at risk, just as any child of someone who defies his enemies. But Evan is not the prophesied child. It is another born as the seventh month dies." Becca answered him.

"So that also means the Potter and the Longbottom families. They both had sons born on the last day of July. I was at the hospital when it happened." Moony informed the group.

Regulus picked up the conversation, "Does Dumbledore know the prophecy too?"

"Yes, if everything is as it was before, the prophecy was given to Dumbledore during an interview for the Divination post at Hogwarts." Severus explained.

"Who's to say that it was speaking about this July instead of next year?" Regulus speculated.

"We can only hope that is what Voldemort is thinking also and that he doesn't start attacking people that may know the answer of who the child is. Of course the prophecy does say 'the Dark Lord shall mark him as his equal' so this is not about who was born but about whom Voldemort chooses as his equal." Becca reminded them. "However, we do not believe he has all of the prophecy and doesn't know this portion of it."

"How much does he know?" asked Snape.

"If history repeats itself, then he only knows the first two lines."

"What are we doing here, then? I imagine you called us for more than imparting this information." Remus Sr. said.

It was Severus that answered. "We are here to discuss battle strategies. We will be at the forefront of circumventing Voldemort's attacks. The Order led by Dumbledore will be heavily hit and we want to save some of the people that died in the first war of our time lines. The future of the wizarding world depends on it."

All the creatures present were then in planning and strategy mode until the wee hours of the morning. Harry and Becca took turns feeding the children as the house elves looked after them so the adults could plan. Griphook, who had arrived with Gorbink was left with a surreal feeling as once again he watched Dark Elves, Light Elves, Wizards, Witches, Goblins, Vampires and even a few house elves plan for the defensive maneuvers that would save others from the attacks of one super evil Dark Lord. The house elves were even getting ready to go from manor to manor to alert other house elves belonging to other people that were determined to be likely victims.

This was the first time Snape and Moony had been involved in a strategy session such as this. Not for the first time, they were glad they were on the winning side.

There was absolutely no doubt these people were here to win.

In the middle of the organized chaos that was going on, with different ideas and plans constantly being thrown around the table, a note appeared in thin air and dropped to the middle of the table. It said…

Five months prior. Between Manor. Silver and Black.


	75. Strategies of War

Posted: 16 February 2010

Chapter 75 Strategies of War

Becca got a big smile on her face, but tears were rolling down her cheeks unchecked. They were making little plop, plop sounds on the table as she wept. Everyone was looking at her for an explanation. Sal, who was sitting next to her, put his arm around her in comfort, but he too was puzzled at the reactions of the note. It was Gorbink who explained the note; he also had a huge grin on his face. The young woman was entirely too emotional.

"The note comes from another time line. It tells us that a couple of phoenixes, Silver and Black are at the place Becca calls Mission Control. They are not in this time but will arrive five months before the prophecy is fulfilled. They will be there to help."

"How do you know this?" Severus asked, still not quite sure why Becca was crying about it.

"First, just look at the handwriting. Second, Becca would only have that reaction if the note was from her Great-grandfathers. They are both phoenixes, just as you are, but they are silver and black instead of white and black." Gorbink looked around the table to see if he had everyone's attention. "I was friends with Becca's Great-grandfathers for many years; they have never failed to help their family and friends in a crisis. I would say this means that in seven months, we will have some extra help."

"What does it mean when it said 'Between Manor'?" Regulus asked.

"That would be the manor that was built between time lines, in the between place." Gorbink stated. He knew they had not been there and probably didn't even know about it. He saw understanding on the faces of the two men before him. They now understood that the phoenixes were their counterparts from Becca's time line. Gorbink did not go into any further discussion about it, leaving it to them to do any more explanations.

"But how did the note get here?" Harry asked.

Salazar answered him, "It was probably not sent to arrive at this exact moment. When trying to shove a note through a time sliver, a fraction of the size of a time window, you cannot be exact. I would say they were hoping to let us know about their current whereabouts, not target a specific time or meeting."

"I'm sorry, guys. I didn't mean to breakdown like that. I just didn't think I would ever see my Grandfathers again. This note means they got out before their time line collapsed. I may get to see them again." Becca said to all who were in the room.

Sal, after looking around at some of the overemotional people, then stood up to address the room. "Attention everyone, I think it would be prudent for all of us to go home and get some sleep. It is very late, or very early; however you want to look at it and everyone needs some rest so they can clear their heads. I suggest we all come back here... It's almost dawn today, so come back here tomorrow; use today to clear your calendars. We will be spending some time in the training rooms. Does anyone here not know what that means?"

Everyone stayed silent so Salazar continued, "The more prepared we are, the less casualties we will have and the faster we can move. Let's get some of these plans we came up with in motion."

Everyone agreed and slowly left the room to go back to their own houses, their minds running over the events of the last few hours and the revelations they were presented with.

At Potter Manor...

It had been over three months now since the Potters had brought their pride and joy home from the hospital. James was finding out that there was much work to being a good father, but he wouldn't trade a minute of it away. Harry was so cute with his messy hair and his eyes were getting greener everyday. He loved Lily's eyes and was grateful to Merlin that his son had inherited them.

Something had been bothering the Gryffindor every since he had come home from the hospital. He hadn't spoken to Lily about it yet, but he knew he would soon. It effected them all and she should know what was happening.

The only reason he hadn't said anything yet, was because of the baby. He had needed feeding every four hours at first and Lily had been exhausted, always sleeping when the baby was, so she could be awake to take care of him. James helped some, but only Lily could feed the baby, she didn't want to use bottles even if they had breast milk in them.

Now baby Harry was sleeping more hours at night and sometimes would sleep a whole eight hours before waking. The house was getting back to normal and at the back of James' mind he felt an urgency to tell Lily what had transpired at St. Mungo's.

He found his wife in the kitchen fixing breakfast and went in to talk to her. The baby was still upstairs in the nursery and he could feel the magic of the monitoring charm in the room to let them know when he woke up.

"Lils, there is something I would like to talk to you about." He started the conversation hesitantly, not quite sure how to put his anxiety into words.

"Good, there is something I need to speak with you about too." Lily said to her husband.

"Well then, you go first." James said to his wife.

"No, I don't mind if you go first." Lily told her husband. Really, she was a little afraid to approach the subject as she thought he would not be receptive to her suggestion.

So James spoke first and relayed as much of the conversation Dumbledore had with their best friends while they were at the hospital. He told her of his observations that Albus had tried to purposefully create an argument with Sirius and Moony. He explained that when trying to speak with Padfoot about it later, he just brushed him off, saying that Albus had really taken him under his wing when he left his parents house.

"I really don't know why the old man would do something like that, but it looked deliberate. Moony was, as usual, the voice of reason. He attempted to defuse the situation and was only partially successful. I have to tell you Lils, I went back and read some more of that book and I think that the people Moony work for are people we need to really look at getting to know. I feel it, that the war is escalating. It's coming and the more we know about what is going on, the better prepared we will be. When I ask Albus about it, he tells me everything is in hand and he doesn't have any information he needs to pass on just yet.

"Have you never noticed" Lily said with a grimace marring her beautiful face, "that Albus likes to hold all his cards close to his chest so no one knows what is going on except him?" She let out a sigh and then continued "He likes to keep his secrets to himself."

"There are many things I have been noticing, especially at the meetings. I fear for our safety sometimes and don't like the unknown factors all these secrets create. We need a plan and I was thinking that Moony might be able to help us."

"He was the one that told us to read the dedication page of the book, I have read it a hundred times and I can only get one thing out of it."

"And what is that?"

"It said 'Anyone given unlimited power has just been given the right of unlimited corruption. No one person should be unaccountable for their actions, even those we trust absolutely, even Merlin'. What if we have been giving Albus Dumbledore too much power?"

"We need to speak with Moony." James repeated to his wife.

"I would be willing to speak with him. I also wanted to ask you about attending a Ladies Social Club, I heard about. There is a group of ladies, mostly pureblood, that meet to discuss ways of keeping the peace in the home and other magical ways to promote safety in the family. Alice's mother-in-law suggested that we may want to go. She is acquaintances with Walburga Black. Now I know what Sirius says about their family, but I really see a shift in the attitudes of many purebloods and would like to try one meeting. The next one is going to be at the Longbottom estate."

"Did you say Walburga Black will be there? I don't know Lils, she can be a really staunch woman for all those pureblood ways she tried to drill into Sirius. Do you think it would be safe?"

"I don't think she would do anything at the Longbottom's Manor, James. That would just be foolish." Lily reasoned with him. "The woman may be a lot of things, but foolish is not one of them."

"I suppose you're right. I just don't want anything to happen to you." James assured her. "Will you be taking Harry with you?"

"No. I want to leave him here. That was why I wanted to talk to you about it. I want you to be here taking care of him so I won't worry about you."

"Are you expecting trouble at this meeting?"

"No, I just don't want to take Harry out yet. I, too, feel like the war is escalating and just want him to be safe." Lily said cautiously.

"I would advise that we don't discuss this with Sirius yet. Perhaps after we find out more about what is going on? I want some answers and the Order is not giving them to me. I feel we should do everything to protect our family. If other contacts and allies can help us, then we will do what we must to protect each other and to protect Harry."

"Thank you for not fighting me on this. I wasn't sure how you would react to my wanting to go to the meeting. If I understand it correctly, some of these women were wives of Death Eaters that have been released from the mark just as Regulus was or are widows because their husbands were killed in the activities they pursued as Death Eaters."

"Just be careful, Lils. I know Alice would not lead you astray. Just stay close to her, being an auror she may see something before you do. Stay alert. Oh, and be sure to tell Mrs. Longbottom I said hello." James finished with a grin. He and Frank used to get into so much trouble when they would play together as children.

"Sure, I can do that. The meetings are on the first Monday of each month so we will see what happens in the mean time." Lily then decided to sit on her husband's lap and kiss him for all he was worth. Just as the kiss was getting a little hot and heavy, the monitoring alarm went off to tell them their son was waking up for the day.

At Prince Manor...

Salazar was working with the goblins to create come new unrecognizable weaponry. He wanted to use the acromantula trunks they had in production as places to hide some of their people before an attack or to use them to cage some of the Death Eaters. It would give them the element of surprise if they hid in the trunk and popped out in the middle of the battle or give them a hiding place to discretely shoot off spells without anyone realizing where they were coming from. The production of these 'War Trunks' would have to be classified so they didn't fall into the wrong hands.

The Vampires were working with Remus Sr. and Tonks on modifying some spells to allow the person that was being cursed to return the curse back to the originator. The Vampires had a spell that could make someone feel all the pain they had caused another, but thought to modify it so that the spell could be attached to someone as a protection charm. Then when they were cursed, the spell would revert back to the sender. It was based on transferring evil intentions to the originator of said evil.

Moony and Regulus were working with the portraits of Rowena and Helga, and some of the other healers, to come up with some battle healing spells. They needed spells that would seek out and heal what was wrong, instead of one spell or potion for each ailment or injury. Helga said she personally didn't know why it hadn't been done before. It just made sense. They were using a diagnostic charm with several healing spells and stringing them together.

Severus and Harry had been extremely busy with Fawkes. There were gathering phoenix tears so that each member of their party could carry a vial with a few tears to heal themselves if they were seriously hurt or they could help an innocent that had been attacked. They also started working on a healing potions pack for everyone to carry with them.

Becca was in charge of coordinating the efforts of everyone else and on more than one occasion was feeding the children when Harry was helping Severus. They all knew the risks of them not being successful and they wanted to be as prepared as possible.

The house elves had joined the groups to teach them apparation through the anti apparation wards. It was one of the most difficult things to learn and they took turns teaching one group and then another. It was also one of the most essential if they were captured.

The Light and Dark Elvin cultures were excellent in untraceable portkeys and not only had made enough for everyone to have one, but were teaching some of their other members how to make one in case of an emergency. If someone was captured and stripped they would be able to use wandless magic by 'borrowing magical power' from the earth or rock and transfigure what was available to them into a portkey to escape. The trick was using this magic with house elf magic to get through the wards.

Becca was setting up a workshop for some of the women in the group. It would be essential to make sure the women were safe with the children, especially as their number of children continued to grow as they found the squib and magical squib born. They had been extremely fortunate that all the children were with good loving families. It couldn't last forever though and soon they would have to set up their own orphanage to see to some of the others that were found. For right now, it was too risky and everyone was more focused on what was happening in the war.

They hadn't made any decisions yet about the other magical children out there that were with muggle families. They were harder to find as the records were sealed but for now, they at least were being taken care of. Some of the women were specially trained to spot any child abuse of any kind and document it to get the children away from the muggle parents. This was a slow process however, but they were already working on three cases.

When Regulus and Moony had been brought up to date on the actions and character of one Albus Dumbledore, they at first spiraled into a depressed guilt from being so blind to the man's true character. How could one from the light be so evil in nature? Becca had to tell them that almost the whole wizarding world had the same blind affliction and they should not feel guilty. Just as the dark power of magic was painted evil, the light was usually painted good. Not everything was in black and white. Someone who used the power of light magic could still use it for evil purposes just as much as some who used the power of dark could use it for good.

This was the foundation of what made magical creatures different. They understood the powers buried deep beneath the earth and that rested in the air. This was part of the education that they hoped to introduce to the current generations and to make known to all of the magical community.

After a few days of endless activity, Severus was making his way to the nursery to see his children when he heard a female voice telling the children a story. He silently listened in the doorway as Becca was saying…

"Once upon a time, a long time ago there was a great power. The great power wanted company and companionship so from his own essence he took and created a feminine counterpart with all his powers and abilities. These were the first of the Gods and Goddesses. And as the great power looked at what he had done, he said "So mote it be."

The great power and his counterpart were very happy together and wanted to create more happiness. They then formed the world and separated light and dark so now there was day and night. They worked in the day and rested at night and saw that all was well. Out of the earth, they created creatures of all kinds, some were for the light of day and some were for the dark of night, over looking what had been created and keeping it safe. The great power and his counterpart were happy. Then the great power gave one last gift to his creations. The power of choice. The power to choose right from wrong and how they wanted to live their lives.

During the night the night creatures roamed the earth and kept watch, sleeping or resting during the time of light. During the day, the light creatures kept watch, sleeping or resting during the time of dark. During the dusk and dawn time when light took over morning or faded into evening, all creatures were able to get together for great feasts and companionship with one another, neither one serving the other any more than the other served him. All taking care of the world they lived in and protecting it.

After a fashion, the creatures wanted to spread their happiness and started to come together to create life and give birth. Many were soul mated and lived long and prosperous lives. Creature with like creature and human with like human.

But as with most things, something went wrong. There was a human that was born and did not want happiness; he wanted power over all things. He wanted to take the right of free will from the people and other creatures. The people and other creatures rose and defeated the evil power and then returned to rebuild their world.

All the creatures that had been created took care of the new world, each with their own special powers to protect and keep the gardens and fields safe. All worked together to live in peace.

The humans and creatures gave themselves names for their particular species. The men and women were witches and wizards, and then there were vampires, goblins, werewolves, elves, mer-people who kept the oceans safe. Within each of these species, there were other sub sets such as high elves, light elves, dark elves, alphas, packs. There were also other creatures, ones with out power such as cattle, fish, sheep and others that were for food.

As their family grew and the great powers grew old, they needed help. The smallest of the elves were less powerful than the others and actually liked helping their fellow creatures most. Their bodies were not as strong and their power was weakening with each generation. It was feared that they would die out and be no more. The great power, saddened by this news told them "If you bond with us and pledge yourself to us, we will be able to protect and give you some of our power. You will work within our homes and help us keep them clean and running smoothly. The elves agreed and went to the great power for his help. The great power created a ritual and bonded with the elves that had come to him. As soon as the bond was finished the grey pallor of the elves left and they were immediately healthier looking and standing up straighter and were stronger. So, thus, house elves were created.

Over many generations, they would look after the great powers and their children and help keep them happy and healthy. They served them by cooking and cleaning and helping where ever they were wanted. They stayed healthy under the protection of their masters and served them well. Other wizards started to go to the great power for their own elves and the whole community started to thrive once more.

There came a time, much later, that the great power and his companion were old and weak. The great power wanted to move on to rest and the companion with him. They gathered all their creations together and told them it was time for them to leave but the gifts that they were given, were for all times. Their work, rituals and research on the beginnings would be left with the two oldest children Merlin and Morgana who would follow all the old ways.

"Our human bodies are weakening and it takes more effort every day to sustain them. We will be leaving you very soon. Remember to care for your fellow creatures and not do any harm to them. Live in peace and harmony. We love you all and if there should be a bad time, rest assured we will still be with the earth and sky to help you through it. Goodbye all." With that said both the great powers were taken by the wind and earth and their power was imbued into the ground and sky as the powers could cover the earth and help protect it for all times.

When Becca finished her story she looked at the children in their cribs sleeping and said, "Now we have a new conflict, and the great powers have once again sent us the power and strength to overcome and to embrace the old ways and be happy."


	76. Ladies of Magic

Posted: 20 February 2010

Chapter 76 Ladies of Magic

The meeting of the Ladies Social Club was in session for the month of December. It would be the first time that Lily Potter and Alice Longbottom were to infiltrate the lives of the other women. Some of these people had been on the wrong side of the war, in their opinion, and now had called a truce to help others. Ladies Potter and Longbottom approached the room with trepidation. There was enough power in there to take over Gringotts if they wished.

The first one to greet them was the former Lady Longbottom, standing in the entrance way while speaking to a young woman. Upon seeing the woman Lily was instantly put at ease, almost as if she should know her from somewhere. When the young woman turned to look, Lily saw the most incredible green eyes to go along with the silky black hair; a luxurious raven black turned to a navy blue color in the light. Instantly Lily held out her hand to greet her while Augusta Longbottom made the introductions.

"Ah, Lily, I am so glad you made it. I want you to meet Becca Prince." The older woman then turned to Becca, "This is Lady Lily Potter. She is a friend of my daughter-in-law's, Alice Longbottom." As she said Alice's name she indicated her hand in a gesture to show she was talking about the woman next to Lily.

"Welcome ladies. Is this your first time to one of our meetings?" Becca already knew the answer, but didn't want to come across to the others as if she kept tabs on everyone. "I have missed the last few meetings while I was in the last stages of pregnancy and giving birth."

"We both just had children too!" said Alice Longbottom as she laughed with the younger woman.

"Actually" Becca smirked and informed them with a conspiratorial whisper, "several of the women here are pregnant or just had babies. There seems to be a lot of that going around."

She turned to their hostess "Please excuse me, Mrs. Longbottom, may I introduce these guests to some of the others?"

"Of course dear. I have a few more ladies arriving and can't leave my post at the moment." The wizened older woman turned to her son's wife, "Would that be acceptable to you, Alice dear?"

"Of course, Mother, that would be quite acceptable and I believe I already know a few people here, but Lily may need a few more introductions."

Lily looked about the room that had over twenty pureblood women in it. She realized this was a room full of the 'cream of the crop'. These women were the ones of the pureblood society that she was rarely allowed into. Alice had grown up in this elite society, but Lily had been branded a 'mudblood' from the very beginning of entering the wizarding world and she was nervous about meeting some of these people.

Becca was a natural, head held high as if she had been born to be a leader of the elite. Her posture was perfect, chin up, shoulders back, voice with the perfect pitch and her eloquence was also evident every time she opened her mouth. She spoke their 'language' and not for the first time today, Lily wondered where she had come from. The Prince family was a mystery and she wondered what Becca's affiliation with the Prince Conglomerate organization was. She would ask Moony when she had a chance.

All of these women hung on Becca's every word, but she was not pretentious. She would answer a question and make sure the person understood the answer before going on to the next question. Lily thought she would make a wonderful teacher. No matter how many times the same question was asked, she answered politely and completely then moved on.

It was the strangest social club Lily had ever seen.

Lily followed the young woman with her eyes as she went around the room and then as the meeting came to order. Today they were not only going over some of the uses for the 'family magic imbued crest', but how to create one for the younger families that may not be the Lords but the younger brothers or sisters that had smaller homes and lived outside the family manor. Becca impressed upon the women about following the old ways of creating these crests.

Lily was told how the house elves were protected by the family magic and needed the strength to survive the hundreds of years they actually lived. Becca was teaching a new subject today on creating the blood magic family crests with the help of the old family elves. It was quite the ceremony. The reason they had come to Augusta Longbottom's home was because she had abdicated the Longbottom Manor to her son and moved out to give the young family privacy. The current home she was residing in had no family crest in the foundations. Today they were learning the importance of it and how to activate it. The process, however, would take several meetings to learn.

After the meeting was concluded, Lily and Alice got ready to leave, but at the last minute Lily sought out Becca to have a private word with her.

"Why do I have the feeling we have met somewhere before?" she asked the woman.

"I do not believe we have met, but we may be related." Becca answered cryptically. "I am of the direct line of Rowena Ravenclaw and I feel that you may be the same."

"Yes, but no one knows that." Lily said perplexed.

"If you continue to come to the meetings, you will learn how to access the spiritual side of your magic and know things that others would not expect you to. The women in the family are always the spiritual foundation. It is why most seers are women. When the couple is same sex based, the carrier of the children develops this sense. It is part of the old pureblood magic."

"I have always been taught that the old ways were confining and dark and evil and to be avoided. I have never seen these teachings before."

"I know. The teaching of the old ways has always been within the family and was labeled dark because it delves into the blood magic of the family. There are some books that you can get to read with this information."

"I already have a book that I recently acquired that may contain some of the old rituals. I haven't read much of it lately. Newborns can be quite demanding." Lily gave a soft tinkling laugh.

"Yes, the son I carried was born at the end of July and he is just getting to the point of sleeping all night."

"I also have a son born at the end of July, on the last day of the month. He is sleeping all night now, but there for a while I thought I was never going to get a full night's sleep."

The two women were soon joined by a third and all three talked about newborns and all having sons born on the same day. Becca didn't take the time to explain she wasn't Evan's real mother.

When Lily returned back home with Alice in tow, James looked up and smiled at his adorable wife. "Honey! Just the person I was hoping to see. Little Harry is due for a feed soon and I was afraid I was going to have to use the emergency bottle before you returned."

"Is the baby awake yet?" Lily answered back, knowing what the answer would be. If he had been awake and wanting fed, he would be crying about now.

"No, not yet, but I have been keeping a close eye on him."

"Yes, I'm sure you have. I want to show Alice the book I retrieved from Gringotts. I want to see if it has a few of the old pureblood spells in it that were spoken about at the meeting." She turned and grabbed Alice's hand. "Come on, the book is in our room."

As they ran upstairs, little Harry must have sensed his mother nearby, for he let out a wail, announcing that he was hungry and most likely wet too. Lily soon got him sorted out and brought him to her room to feed him as Alice looked at the book.

"Lily, I have never seen some of these rituals before. It's no wonder the ministry labeled them dark, they don't require a wand that tracks our spells but they do require blood. Family blood, but look at the results. The protection spells alone are worth the risk."

Alice and Lily found the ritual family magic spell for the family crest that Becca had been teaching about at the meeting and a few others as well. She would have to speak with James about it, but wanted to try at least one or two in the house they were in now. Lily and Alice spent the rest of the afternoon looking at the book and it was long after baby Harry fell back to sleep that they parted for the day and Alice promised to come back the next day. She would be on maternity leave for a few more weeks and wanted to learn as much as possible before going back to work.

Back at Prince Manor…

Becca had just returned to Prince Manor, when Harry came from the nursery after feeding the children. She knew she had been away longer than anyone anticipated and she didn't want to worry them any more than she already had.

"Hi Harry" she said as he walked into the room. "How was your day?"

"Where have you been?" Harry said in a loud furious whisper. Obviously he had just gotten the little ones to sleep and he didn't want to wake them.

"The meeting ran long and there were some unexpected visitors there." Becca replied.

"What do you mean by 'unexpected'?" the young man asked with concern. His mind started racing with the idea that Death Eaters had infiltrated the ladies group.

"Oh, not in a bad way" Becca assured him. "Lily Potter was there today and I was not expecting her. I didn't realize that she and Alice Longbottom were such good friends. I guess I should have expected it, but somehow missed the idea they would both be there, even if we were at Mrs. Longbottom's house."

"My mother?" Harry asked as his face blanched. "How was she?"

"Oh, Harry, I am sorry if I distressed you. She was fine and we spoke today about the family crests and what they mean in relationship to protection rituals. It was a good meeting and I have no doubt she will read more of the book that she got from Gringotts to see what else she could use to protect Little Harry."

"No, I'm not distressed, I was surprised and would really like to see her." Harry said with a frown on his face. "I wonder if I ever will, even though I can never let her know who I am."

"Don't worry about it Harry, you never know what fate may have in store for you." Becca replied while taking a seat and stretching out her legs on the sofa.

"We heard from Lucius Malfoy today." Harry said conversationally.

"Really? How are Narcissa and the children? Are they still in France? When will they come for a visit?" Becca ran out of breath at this point.

Harry laughed at her. "You sound just like me when I get excited about something." He thought about her questions, "Yes, really. Narcissa and the kids are fine. Yes, they are still in France. They don't want to leave just yet, but we have been invited to go and visit with them for Christmas." Harry was the one who paused for breath this time. "I hadn't really noticed how close we are to Christmas. It's only a few weeks away!"

They sat and talked about what to get Severus and where they would go shopping. How they would manage the children or if they should just leave them home. It was about ninety minutes later when Severus walked into the room with Salazar that they become conscious of having nearly missed their dinner. An elf came into the room at about the same time to announce that their meal was served.

At dinner Becca decided it would be as good a time as any to approach the next idea she had. She knew they were not going to like it, but it was a really good idea.

"Hey guys, I was thinking about venturing into Diagon Alley and doing a book signing at Flourish and Blotts. What do you think?" she asked in an almost too cheerful voice.

"Not on your life." Severus said.

"Not happening." Said Harry at the same time.

"I don't like the idea." Came from Sal as the other two were talking at the same time.

"So glad you agree with me, I am going to set it up first thing tomorrow. It will increase the sales of the children's books and also let people see that we are not some figment of everyone's imagination." Becca smirked. "I got the idea today while talking to one of the ladies about Christmas presents for the kids and she asked me to autograph a book she had bought at the book store for her five year old."

"We did not agree with you." Salazar interrupted.

"Oh? I really could have sworn with all that noise you were making that I heard 'happening idea' in there somewhere." Becca smirked again. "It made me think that you had finally gotten in touch with your inner child and made a joke about it."

"That is not what we said and you know it." Severus retorted.

"Perhaps, but it is a good idea. If it weren't for the fact that it was ME wanting to go, you would agree to it."

Harry was the one to speak up when he noticed the expression on the woman's face. He recognized that expression as the same one he used when he was solidly stubborn about something. "You will have to have at least three guards stationed around you. You will have to bring Seventh Born and keep him with you at all times. We can use an invisibility charm on her. You will not go milling with the crowd, but stay in one place."

Becca wasn't happy about this list that was continuing to grow, but she would abide by what ever reasonable rules they came up with to be allowed to do this.

One week later…

Flourish and Blotts was packed with people. This did not make the guards happy; however it made Becca and the Mr. Flourish ecstatic. People from every level of society and walk of life were represented in the store. Some of the ladies from 'the club' had come to make sure Becca was going to be alright and of course to get her to sign their books.

Mr. Flourish had not been one hundred percent agreeable to all the security measures, but Severus and Salazar had come to visit with the man, making sure that he understood why the measures were necessary. Of course, the real reason the shop owner had agreed, might have been the fact that Severus had said under no circumstances was Becca going to make an appearance without every one of their safety procedures in place.

A vampire was in the shadows watching the people. He had been chosen because of his great speed and ability to 'read' other people in a crowd. Becca was set up at a table with stacks of books behind her. The idea was for the customer to come to the table for the children's book they wanted. Becca would sign the book and hand it to the customer. At absolutely no time was Becca to take a book from someone to sign. It could have been changed into a portkey or worse have some kind of poison on it.

Sentry Dobby was stationed at the table with Becca, in the guise of helping her. He was actually making sure no one approached and threw any foreign object at her that could be dangerous.

Becca, herself was dressed in a Prince Conglomerate uniform robe with a basilisk skin smock under her robe. It would still ward off spells of any kind, but was hidden from sight. Seventh Born was indeed invisible and wrapped around Becca. If anyone attacked, the snake could still look into their eyes and instantly kill them.

Becca had been warned, countless times, that any one that she knew, could be polyjuiced and may not be the real person. She was warned about accepting anything from anyone even if she thought she knew them.

Salazar was also in the place; he and Severus had been working on a long acting polyjuice and had perfected it somewhat. He would remain in his other form for about three hours instead of just the one hour. All he had to do was head to the loo and take another dose to remain disguised.

Although there were several people that had brought their own books to be signed, they had to be left at the door and they were not allowed to bring them into the shop. Ostensibly this was to prevent theft or at the very least the books getting confused with the ones for sale. They were told that Becca would sign them later and they would be returned. Actually they were checked for safety, then signed and returned. Mr. Flourish had a back room where several Prince Employees were to check the books.

It wasn't until halfway through the morning, when an elf popped in from Prince Manor with Becca's lunch that things got interesting.

When Molly Weasley came into the shop, she had all of her children with her. Now, no matter how well behaved her kids were; six children and four of them age four and under can be quite unruly. She proceeded past the people at the door that were collecting presold books to be signed and walked into the shop.

Becca saw Molly Weasley from across the room, just before she made her way over to the table with all the children. Molly smiled at Becca and greeted her exuberantly.

"Hi Becca, it has been so long since we have seen you. The children love the books you gave us and have asked for their own copy each. I hope you don't mind that we came. I was wondering," her she took a book out of her pocket, "if you could sign this one too. Bill just loves this book." When she put it down on the table, everything started happening at once.

Seventh Born hissed, Dobby cried "NO!" and started to grab for it just as Salazar, who was sitting at the table keeping a tally of the sales, grabbed for it at the same time. Only he reached it first and disappeared. The vampire had grabbed for Becca and pulled her in her chair back away from the table.

"Oh, dearie me," the older woman said. "I didn't mean to cause such a ruckus. I wonder where that man went with my book?"

"I am sure he will be back soon" Becca said, trying to stay calm. Salazar wouldn't leave her here like that without a good reason. She didn't notice Sentry Dobby call for another house elf to deliver a message to Severus about Salazar vanishing

At Prince Manor…

"What do you mean he vanished?" Severus howled at the elf. He immediately went to the floo and called in reinforcements. He was not taking any chances with the woman he loved like a daughter. He wanted to know what was going on. Harry was taking a nap with the children and he chose not to wake him. He had been up half the night with Lillian and needed some sleep. Instead he left a message with the house elf on what to tell him should he awaken before they were back.

Ten minutes later Severus, Regulus, and Moony were arriving at Diagon Alley. It only took another three minutes for them to get to the famous bookstore and see that there was still some chaos inside the store.

Becca was in the corner, arguing with the Vampire and Sentry Dobby about not wanting to leave. Molly Weasley was standing with her brood as the store owner would not let her leave; since it was her book that caused the trouble and it was not left at the door for signing. There was another woman; one Severus could have sworn he had seen before, standing off to the side watching the area, in a nonchalant sort of way.

Severus nodded to the woman, he now recognized as being one of the ladies from the club. He made his way over to the Vampire and Sentry Dobby, who were still arguing with Becca about leaving and said the password. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely."

They then nodded at the onyx eyed man who addressed the young woman, "I take it this argument is about you not wanting to leave?"

"I don't feel it would do any good to run scared. Especially when we don't know what happened." Becca replied.

After everything had been explained, Severus said "Then I will stay and let Reg and Moony search for Salazar. He did not come back to the manor so we can only assume the book had been turned into a portkey. I very much doubt that Molly Weasley would admit to it though so there is no way to know for sure."

He then went over to Mr. Flourish to smooth things over and to tell Molly Weasley to go home. After he spoke with Regulus and Moony about finding Sal, he took the founder's place at the table and they continued to greet the public.

That afternoon, Becca was reading to the children that had come to the store for a story hour. She read several stories including the one Severus had heard her telling his children. It was a great way to introduce them to a new way of thinking instead of fighting about light and dark.

The only thing on everyone's mind at this point was 'Where was Salazar Slytherin?'


	77. Where is Salazar Slytherin

Posted: 21 February 2010

Chapter 77 Where is Salazar Slytherin

Salazar landed with a thump on the carpet of the office. He felt a spell hit him, than a voice saying, "Now, you were not whom I was expecting." Salazar didn't move, guessing the spell that had been thrown at him was a stunner or sleeping spell. He didn't open his eyes, but listened as whomever it was walked around on the thick carpet.

"Hummmm. When I went to the Weasley's to recruit them for the Order, I turned one of the kid's books into a portkey. I told Mrs. Weasley I was a collector and would pay her one hundred galleons to get the book autographed. So, who are you?" the old man asked no one in particular.

Salazar was glad he hadn't worn the usual Prince Conglomerate uniform, but had opted instead to wear regular finely cut and stylish robes, lined with the skin of his favorite familiar of course. At least the old man didn't associate him with the company and therefore didn't associate him with Becca per se. He suddenly felt himself lifted from the floor with a levitation spell and realized he was being floated out of the office and into the castle. At least he knew where he was.

The old man floated him down into the dungeons and into a small room that could actually be called a cell. It had a small bed and a chamber pot, but nothing else. He was a little disconcerted as he heard the door lock after he was placed on the bed in the room.

He listened for a few minutes to see if he could hear any noise. As there was none, he opened his eyes and looked around the room, then he smiled. This room had been one of the private potions chambers in his time. When an advanced potions student wished to experiment on something new, they would be given use of a small brewing room. Not only was this for the safety of the students, but it afforded some privacy so the new potion could not be copied by someone else. It was to guarantee their work.

He went over to the wall an the left side and counted three down and three across and placed his left hand on the stone, then he counted two down and one across from where his left hand was and placed his right hand on that stone. He hissed **"_open_"** at the stones and watched as the doorway appeared.

As he entered his chambers about fifteen minutes later, he walked across the library and into the room of mirrors. He briefly wondered where his familiar was, but needed to see what the old man doing first.

After a shouted command at the mirrors, he was watching the Headmaster pacing in his office, lamenting about how such a simple operation could have gone so wrong. This meant the woman of the Prince family was still in Diagon Alley signing books.

Salazar found out that Albus, when agitated, liked to mumble to himself. It was fortunate for him that he could fine tune the sound on the mirrors to hear most of what the man was saying. His plan was to capture Becca, feed her veritaserum, get all the information about the company he wanted and then obliviate her and send her back to the bookstore. The plan obviously failed and so Salazar got caught instead. He wondered what the old man was going to do when he found his prisoner gone from the locked cell he was placed in.

Since he was already here at the school, he decided to look around and see if there was anything he wanted to take back with him to the manor. He went to his desk to see if the Slytherin bonding rings were in there. He had asked Severus and Harry permission to ask Becca to marry him and wanted to do it on Christmas day. He had waited until after she had the baby to approach the subject with the two men as he had thought she had enough going on without a wedding in the mix, but now he was more than ready.

He found the rings, exactly where he left them in his own time line and put them in his pocket for safekeeping and went to search for more forgotten treasures. Becca and the others had stripped his chambers from Harry's timeline, but most of that stuff was still packed in trunks. It would be easier to find some of his personal items here than digging through dozens of trunks that were hurriedly packed at the last minute.

About an hour later, he heard a yell from the room of mirrors so he went to see what the old fool was doing now. He laughed when he heard the Headmaster say he had been to Diagon Alley and found the woman he wanted to interrogate heavily guarded and impossible to get to. He even bought a book hoping to get a chance to grab for her when she signed it, only to find a house elf handing him the book and he wasn't able to get near her.

Salazar wondered why the old man was so insistent on knowing about them. It wasn't as if they were his sworn enemy or anything, at least not that he knew. He decided to sit and listen for awhile. As the old coot ranted and raved in his office to no one but Fawkes, Salazar came to the understanding that the man just didn't like the unknown. 'He likes to be the one in charge of the chess board' Sal thought to himself. He started to laugh; the more persistent the man was the more elusive the Prince family was. The more elusive they became, the more persistent the old man became. They were driving the old man quite mad with their aloofness and adherence to privacy. Wait till he told Severus, he would get a kick out of the situation.

As he was just about to leave the room, Lashisa finally made her presence known. After visiting with his familiar for awhile and then collecting the shed skins that were around the chamber he left the castle through the outside exit. He thought as he was walking out, he could hear Dumbledore ranting about missing prisoners in his castle.

When he finally arrived back at Prince Manor, Becca flew to him and put her arms around him crying about not knowing what happened to him or where he was. He was grateful for the concern, but knew they were worried about nothing really.

"Come on Becca," he said soothingly, "nothing was going to happen to me." He rubbed her back in calming circles to get her to quiet down.

"You could have been killed!" she fussed at him. "What if you had been sent to Voldemort?"

"Becca, calm down and think about this for a minute." Sal said in response to her raving, "If Voldemort had accosted me, then I would have announced myself as Lord Slytherin and he would have listened as soon as he heard the snake language. As it was Dumbledore accosted me and held me prisoner in the castle. As soon as he locked the cell door, I got out through a secret passage and spent some time in my chambers before leaving." He pulled out the shrunken package from his pocket, "Here are some of the basilisk skins that were in the chamber. I thought you could give them to Seamstress Sissy for later use."

Becca wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and took the package from him. She swatted him on the arm for worrying her like that, and then went to her room to get ready for dinner.

At dinner that evening, Salazar relayed to the others his observations of the Headmaster. He also relayed his displeasure at leaving the meddling old fool in the position of Headmaster in his school. Obviously Dumbledore had not made a good impression.

For the next couple of weeks everything was quiet as far as the war was concerned, but business was booming as Christmas came closer and everyone was busy getting their gifts for each other and for the children. Of course Harry's kids were too young to remember anything this year, but that didn't stop the adults from using Teddy as an excuse to have lots of decorations and all the trimmings.

Everyone had agreed to spend Christmas at home, and then two days after the holiday Becca, Salazar, Harry and Severus as well as the babies would go to France to visit with the Malfoys.

This year, just as they had the year before, Harry and Becca decorated the sitting room with all kinds of decorations, stringing popcorn and with lots of tinsel. The only difference was all the decorations had been made unbreakable in deference to Teddy being there. No one wanted him to get hurt on the glass bulbs they hung on the tree.

The little boy was going to be three years old in April so he was just old enough to start remembering things. He was trying to get more decorations to put on the bottom of the tree when Harry heard him talking to Sixth Born.

"Sisth, dat" he said as he pointed to the box of decorations. Sixth Born slithered over to the box and gently pushed the ornament out with his tail, and then rolled it over to Teddy who put it on one of the lower branches of the tree.

"Loo Unca Hawy" the little boy said. "Pretty"

It was the first time he had said Harry's name and all the adults in the room, turned around and looked at him. He was jumping up and down clapping his little hands as his hair turned different colors in his excitement.

"That's really great, Teddy!" Harry said to encourage the little boy. "Can you do another one?"

Teddy nodded his head and said "Sisth" and again pointed to the box. Sixth Born again went to the box of decorations and repeated his earlier 'trick' in getting the ornament out of the box.

"Dank oo" was the reply from the little boy as the snake rolled the glittery item to his little master.

"Hey, little man, how would you like to put that one up high?" Harry asked Teddy. When he nodded in reply, Harry picked him up so he could put the ornament on one of the higher shelves. When he was finished, Teddy clapped his hands and Harry put him down before he squirmed out of his arms.

It was Christmas day…

Everyone was having a lazy morning, that is everyone except the Lupin family who had one very excited little boy. He wanted "Li and Ewan" to come and play and see his new toys. Remus Sr. had finally acquiesced to letting Tonks give him a small toy broom for Christmas. They had 'childproofed' the sitting area so Teddy could zoom in a small part of it to show everyone his new 'boom'.

"Loo Unca Hawy, Unca Se… Me fry" he said as he buzzed around on the broom. Severus and Harry laughed at his excitement and his trying to say their names. They couldn't wait for next year when their own children were older.

There were lots of gifts for the children. Becca and Harry had been working on getting two rooms ready so later they could each have their own room. It would be at least another year before they used them, but it gave them something to shop for and they wanted to take their time to decorate for the different genders. Harry was especially excited as he had never had a room of his own. Even when he was given Dudley's second bedroom, it really wasn't something he could decorate for just him.

It was later that day when Salazar Slytherin got down on one knee and asked Becca for her hand in marriage. Becca of course became over emotional and cried even as she nodded her head yes. The whole family and extended family were there to see this wonderful event. Harry, thinking about the proposal Severus gave him, was glad he had not been surrounded by all these people at the time.

Everyone was talking at once about the wedding while trying to make suggestions for the ceremony and honeymoon plans. As the day came to a close, the presents were put away and the kids brought to bed. Harry and Severus left Sal and Becca in the sitting room as they turned in for the night. Kreacher was once again put upon to be the official chaperone for the two as they stayed up and talked into the night.

Two days later they left for France…

It was Christmas Day all over again, only with different people. The children received the bulk of the gifts. The Christmas goose and other foods loaded down the table so it looked like it would collapse if anything else were put on it. It wasn't until later when the day was almost over that the conversation turned very serious.

"Lucius," Harry started the conversation, "we need to know if Tom Riddle has every given you a diary or a journal to hold for him?"

"I remember him giving it to my father just before I was marked. It was in the study for a number of years, but after I met your family, I no longer wanted to be associated with that mad man and put it in one of my vaults." Lucius earnestly told the soulmated couple.

Narcissa and Becca were with the children and didn't hear the conversation. Lucius was glad, as he had never told his wife he had the journal of Tom Riddle. He had looked at it a few times but it was apparently empty. Even so, it was easy to detect the evil imbued into the book.

Salazar decided to join into the conversation as he asked, "Do you remember which vault you put it into?"

"Sure, it was the Malfoy main vault and it is on the top of the book shelf where we keep some very old original works that cannot be replaced." Lucius replied to the founder.

The three men in front of Malfoy sported grins on their faces all at one time. This was a good thing and could be taken care of without Malfoy coming back to England.

"Alright, guys, what's going on?" Lucius asked in a very un-Malfoyish manner. Those grins were giving him a cold feeling up his spine.

Salazar explained, "The journal belongs to Voldemort. It was something he created while he was still in school. It contains a splinter of his soul. It is a horcrux. If anyone uses the journal, they can be taken over by his soul or he can even resurrect himself with it by taking another life."

Lucius blanched. "And this was in my house? With my wife and children?" the man got up and went over to the cabinet to pour a generous helping of whisky. He would have preferred cognac, but that was not something you knock back in a hurry. Right now he needed something for the shock to his system. It wasn't until he was on his second helping that he remembered there were other people in the room. "How do we get rid of it?"

"Well," Severus interjected, "since you were so nice to put it in a vault for us, the goblins at Gringotts will destroy it for you. They really don't even need your permission, but it will look better if they have it."

"Of course, but how will they destroy it? I thought horcruxes were indestructible. At least that is what my father always said."

"Not indestructible, but close to it. Basilisk venom will destroy it, fiendfrye will destroy it and the sword of Gryffindor will destroy it." Harry said with a grin on his face.

"You make it sound like you are speaking from experience." Lucius said.

"I am" was Harry's simple answer.

"What do you need from me?" Lucius responded in a serious manner.

Salazar answered him as only a Slytherin could, "Nothing really. As you may know, according to the documents signed when opening a vault, there is a stipulation that no sentient objects, ghosts or uncovered pictures are to be placed in your vault. The pictures could possibly go from frame to frame in other vaults; that is why you freeze them and cover them. The sentient objects and ghosts can move through the walls of the vaults and see what other people have. Goblins consider this a breach of trust. If it were me in this situation, I would write a note to Gorbink and tell him you just found out that there was an artifact in your vault, give him the vault number and location of the book, then explain you just found out it may have a sentient being in it. Give them permission to destroy it as soon as possible as you are out of town and are not able to get there immediately. This will absolve you of any breach of contract with the goblins."

"I don't want to send it by owl, it could be intercepted. If I write it before you leave, could you personally hand it to him?" Lucius asked, his mask slipping a bit to reveal the worry in his eyes.

"If you write it, we can call Gorbink or Griphook here and you can hand it personally to him. You know they don't really celebrate Christmas the way we do. You won't be interruption his holiday if you call him."

"I would say the sooner the better." Lucius then went to his desk and took out some parchment and a quill. Severus went to the floo and called for Gorbink at Gringotts. As soon as the little goblin found out what they wanted, he came right through the floo and greeted everyone.

When they explained what Lord Malfoy had told them and that he was writing a request to destroy the diary, Gorbink got a big evil looking grin on his face. It didn't help that goblins had a very toothy grin with very sharp pointy teeth.

"So that makes three and three to go." The goblin said as he flooed back out to find the diary.

"What did he mean that makes three and three to go?" Lucius puzzled over what the goblin had said. Then his eyebrows shot up and it was like a like going off in his head, "You mean that bastard had six of these things lying around?"

Severus smirked at him and said, "No anymore. He only has three."

Salazar looked at Harry and coughed, "Not exactly. Harry and I went after the diadem when we were at Hogwarts the day you met with the Headmaster. Harry destroyed it with the basilisk fang he had. I wanted to surprise you later with it and then forgot about it when other things came up. The destroyed diadem is in my quarters."

"So that really only leaves the ring and Nagini!" Harry said excitedly.

"Are you telling me you are going to try and kill the Dark Lord's snake?" Lucius look of horror would have been priceless if it were not such a serious subject.

"We have to; she contains a sliver of Voldemort's soul. She is a living horcrux. Actually she will be easier to destroy because of that, but harder to find. We can't do anything about her right now; it will have to wait till we get closer to the day Voldemort is destroyed."

"And when would that be?" Lucius' skepticism was evident in that question.

"All Hollow's eve this year." Harry answered.

Lucius sat down rather hard in the chair, almost as if he legs would not hold him up anymore. "Then we can go home." He said in a soft whisper as if talking to himself.

"Yes, Lucius" Severus reiterated softly, "You and Narcissa and the children can go home.

Harry wasn't sure, but he could have sworn he saw a single tear make its way down the man's cheek before he recomposed himself and changed the subject.


	78. Here Comes the War

Posted: 21 February 2010

Chapter 78 Here Comes the War

Salazar and Becca had decided on the traditional year's wait as per the old pureblood ways. Even thought Salazar had been living in another section of the manor for nearly a year already, it was the custom to be engaged for a year before the wedding. In very old times, it was custom for the groom to live with the fiancé's family so that he would know how best to take care of his wife and to get to know the in-laws. They had thought this would also give the time needed for the war to end and things to settle down when Baby Harry came to stay.

As time drew nearer and little skirmishes had started to commence, Harry often gave pause for the couple that would be tragically sacrificed by Voldemort. It had upon occasion made him quite depressed until Severus would come and cheer him up, or one of the children would crawl over to him and try to stand. For the most part, however, he was able to push it to the back of his mind.

The ladies didn't have a meeting in January because some of them had taken extended vacations for the holidays. The next meeting was the first Monday in February and Lily and Alice were anxious to join in and see what the group had to say about their project. They had started the Potter family crest in the house in Godric's Hollow. It was complicated but they had been able to paint it onto the basement floor with no problem. The paint was a special mix of protection herbs, flowers and roots and had to include blood from the three of them to create just the correct color. Just a drop in the case of Baby Harry, Lily had numbed his little finger and pricked it to get just the drop she needed to include him in the protection. It was mixed with water first, so all four colors of the crest would get a little bit. Then it was painstakingly mixed and brewed as a potion before the 'paint' could be used for the crest. Now they were at their next step and Lily was hoping Becca would go over this part so she could repeat the process at her own home.

Today they planned to go over the protection runes surrounding the crest and the correct spacing between each one.

All the ladies gathered in the basement of Mrs. Longbottom's home, but this time Frank Longbottom was included in the meeting as his blood was needed for the crest as Lord of the family. They gathered around as Becca stirred the potions used to paint the crest onto the floor. Depending on the colors of the crest, she would add certain flowers or vegetables used as a dye to get the perfect tint; for example, using beets for red or the center of a sunflower for brown or the peddles for yellow. She would extract the left over solids from the potion and then have the 'paint' for the crest.

"Alright everyone listen, the perfect number for household members to give blood is three or seven. These are magical numbers and are used in many rituals. Since we have three adults here to give blood, we do not need to use Baby Neville's. A long time owned and loyal house elf can also fill in for a family member. The more family members you use the better your protection."

Carefully, several of the ladies painted the emblem on the floor. It didn't matter who painted it as long as the blood had been put into the potions it would be for the Longbottom family only.

When they were finished painting, Becca then showed everyone how to set the protection runes around the symbol in the floor.

The meeting ran extra long as with the rumors of attacks coming in more and more everyday, everyone needed as much protection as possible. All the ladies stayed as Becca finished the runes and then positioned the Longbottom family so they could begin the actual ritual.

"First thing to do," she told them, "is to obtain an unused, sterile ceremonial athame for the first time. It will help keep the ritual centered on the protection and if the dagger is used, you don't know what it was used for. A good athame can be found in a shop in Diagon Alley, however the best are goblin made and can be obtained only through a goblin. If anyone needs one and doesn't know how to obtain one, let me know and I will help you."

"Now, the next …" Becca continued on for the next three hours as finally the ritual had been completed and Mrs. Longbottom now had her own Family Protection Crest instilled into the foundations of her home. Becca didn't really think the ladies would get all this information in one day, but she would help anyone that needed it.

As the meeting came to a close, she reminded everyone they only needed to send an owl to her if they needed help in repeating what they had seen that day. It was at that time that Lily Potter and Alice Longbottom came up to her to ask a few questions.

"I was wondering if you would be willing to come and help at my home?" Lily asked. "We have already set the crest with the potion paint and just need the runes and the ritual. I can feel that the war is escalating, I don't want anything to happen to my baby."

"Let me clear it with my family and I will owl or floo you tomorrow. Would it be alright if I brought someone with me?" Becca asked. She knew that she would more than likely be told to take a guard with her.

"You may bring anyone you like. You may even bring the baby if you wish; he could give Baby Harry some company." Lily said with a smile.

When Becca arrived at Prince Manor…

Becca made her way through the sitting room when she heard a voice coming from the dining area. "Where have you been young lady?" It was the voice of the stern Potions Master, one she remembered from her childhood and she almost forgot she was twenty five years old instead of five years old.

"The meeting ran late and we needed to finish Mrs. Longbottom's Family Protection Crest." She called from where she was. "Just a minute, let me get washed up and I will come in there to speak with you."

She had momentarily flashed back to a time that was much simpler for her. She remembered being five years old and coming from her cousin's house and her Great Grandfather being very upset, "Where have you been, young lady?" he had asker her in his stern potions master's voice. "I'm sorry, Grandfather, Lizzy and I lost track of the time." She had answered back. He had looked at her sternly and reprimanded her "Well, don't every worry me like that again." To which she had replied "Yes, sir."

As Becca washed her face and hands, she noticed that she was shaking slightly from the memory. She had over a hundred such memories in a similar vein. She was always loosing track of time when having fun or in some passionate debate of some kind. She missed the old men very much. They had raised her for more than half her life.

Composing herself, Becca threw her shoulders back, looked herself in the eye and left the bathroom to go to the dining area where Harry, Severus and Salazar were sitting drinking a cup of tea.

"Hello, everyone, I am sorry I was late, but since you are here, I need to ask you something." Becca addressed the men in front of her a little hesitantly. "I had a request today from one of the ladies at the group and she wants me to help her with her Family Crest."

"Who is it that you want to help?" Severus interjected. He was not taking any chances with Becca after the attempted kidnapping at the bookstore.

"The Potters." She said simply.

"Oh"

"They are in the house in Godric's Hollow and it doesn't have a Family Crest in the foundation of the house. They have already painted the crest; they just want a little help with the runes and ritual."

"How did they know about the potions paint needed for that?" Severus asked.

"It's in Rowena's book that Lily received when she went to take the inheritance test." Becca reminded him.

"Who are you taking as guards?" Salazar asked.

"I thought I would take Harry and the children along with three of the security elves including Sentry Dobby."

Severus was about to make his very strong objection when he saw Harry's face. He had wanted to meet his parents all of his life. He wanted to know what they were like and to just be able to see them face to face. Just once, and he had never had the chance. Severus, looking at the anguished face of his husband, gave a soft sigh and nodded his acceptance of the request.

One look at his husband's exuberate expression was worth all the worry it would create. Harry was glowing.

"You will take four security elves with you and The Seven and at least one extra person. Perhaps Moony as he is their friend and perhaps Tonks, she was an auror. I know it seems like a lot of people, but you can tell the Potters that Tonks wants to learn how to do the crest and wanted to watch. The elves will be there to pop you out of there in a hurry if something happens. One elf per person and the elf must stick by you so it is within touching distance at all times."

"I want to go." Salazar said quietly to the others in the room. "I am not letting Becca go, unless I go too. I can accompany her instead of Tonks. I can also help with the runes and ritual."

Just as they were finishing dinner, the Daily Prophet landed in the middle of their table. Attached to it were a portkey and a time turner. Becca looked at the paper and said, "Now this is a familiar scene." She was reminded of the note that had mysteriously appeared when they were having their strategy meeting. "Who would send the paper to the middle of our table?"

Severus was the first one that said, "It's from Griphook, he used a portkey and time turner to send it here. The paper is dated three days from now."

Becca and Harry looked at the paper again as well as Salazar. Blazoned across the headlines was:

**Death Eater attack**

**Villager of Rassendorf – Fifty Muggles Murdered – Hundreds Injured**

Yesterday, at five o'clock in the evening, in a daring strike from You-Know-Who, approximately twelve Death Eaters were spotted attacking the muggle village of Rassendorf. The village has been rumored to house several squib families that had recently claimed their inheritance from Gringotts, the Wizard Bank. It only took the Death Eaters two hours to level the village as one of the wizards used a dark curse called feindfrye to burn out all the inhabitants…

"This is terrible." Becca said. "Are we going to be able to do anything about it? Are we ready for this type of out right defense?"

"Of course we are. If the paper is three days from now then the attack is two days from now. We have time to plan some of our strategies we were talking about." Severus said.

"Harry, go floo Gorbink and Griphook, and remember they won't know they sent this yet. Then call the Vampire leader here and tell him to bring another warrior with him." Severus paused and then shouted "Seamstress Sissy!" While he was waiting for the elf to show up, he turned to Salazar.

"Salazar, can you go floo Reg and Moony, and the Lupins? We'll need some backup here at home." Salazar nodded his head and left to use another floo.

In popped a little elf with her hair all askew, a tape measure around her neck and a pin cushion attached to her arm. She was wearing one of the PC uniforms. She bowed at the waist and said "You called Master Prince?"

"Yes, have you been able to modify the acromantula shells to vests and armor? It looks like we are going into battle."

"Yes Master, the goblins and the seamstresses have been working on that for three months now. We even got an adjusting spell to work so they fit whoever puts a vest on."

"How about the masks and helmets?" Severus asked. They had come up with that since they didn't want to be seen and wanted their heads protected as well as everything else.

"Yes, Master Prince. Everything is completed and ready. We have fifty sets of the vests, battle gear and helmets with masks. There are more in production, but it takes a while to get the spells to work."

"That's plenty enough. I need twenty sets of the full battle armament here tomorrow. Can you manage that for me?"

"Yes, Master Prince. I will see that it is done immediately." Seamstress Sissy popped back out to complete Severus' commands. She had seen the paper on the table and knew the war was at hand.

Seamstress Sissy had been one of the Hogwarts elves in the other time line. She had been the one who mended the children's clothes and helped in the laundry room. Sometimes she had even helped the children when their clothes did not fit well, but she mostly had to stay in the laundry room and out of site at the command of the Headmaster.

Now she had been educated and apprenticed with a witch seamstress for twenty years before the Prince family came into this time line. She had been a little afraid when sent twenty years further back than the rest of the family, but when Gorbink had met them and asked them what they liked to do, she had been very grateful for the opportunity to learn and serve the family this way. Now at Prince Fashions, she was head seamstress and had many other elves under her to teach and even some witches would come in and learn from her. She would not let them down, now that they were waging war against those evil wizards.

In the dining room at Prince Manor……………………

There were twelve people assembled in the room; two vampires, two goblins, two Lupins, Moony, Reg, Sal, Harry, Severus and Becca. Becca of course would not be going, but her input was invaluable at times. Of course, Severus would not admit to anyone that she was there to stave off the argument that would ensue is he didn't let her be there. After everyone was apprised of the contents of the paper, the meeting began.

"Becca and Harry have something to do for most of the day tomorrow. It is imperative that the rest of us get set up with our battle gear. Seamstress Sissy said she would have twenty sets of battle gear here tomorrow."

"We do not need battle gear." Said the vampire leader.

"I understand that, and for you it is an option. I wanted to give you the opportunity to use it as it will not only protect you, but it will hide your identity. If the Death Eaters get wind of you helping 'the other side' they may try to come after you next. It would be a nuisance if nothing else. The battle gear is spell resistant and would not hold a tracking spell if someone was able to get one off."

The vampire nodded his head in understanding. He would let his people to decide what they wanted to do. It was a good idea though; he didn't want the next attack to be on his village. The Death Eater faction wouldn't get very far in their attack, but it would be a nuisance.

Severus continued to plan with the others. "There are eleven here that can go and fight, but not everyone needs to. I would like the women at least to stay with the children, but I know Tonks is an auror and may want to go. The risk is minimal as for now, we have the element of surprise and they will not be expecting us. The Daily Prophet said that there were approximately twelve Death Eaters. I want at least twenty people to come to protect the village. I don't exactly have much faith in all their facts. Gorbink, are our special trunks ready?"

"Yes, Severus, they are ready and will serve us well. Several of the trunks are warded so when someone is put in them, they can't get out without knowing the parsletongue password. All the trunks have three expanded rooms so depending on how many you have captured, most should fit in two or three trunks. The other trunks we were able to get a cloaking spell to work so they are invisible. We had to use a combination of runes and spells. The warriors will use those by climbing into the box and shooting spells from it without being seen. They can then levitate the Death Eaters into the prisoner trunks we had made just for them."

"We want this to be quick and efficient. If the paper said there were approximately twelve, we should be expecting at least twice that many.

Tonks and Remus Sr. were furiously whispering in the corner. Remus got a resigned look on his face and Tonks looked back into the room. "I am going with you. I would not miss this for the world." Remus didn't want her to go, as all he could think about was Teddy being an orphan. He felt like they had fought enough in the other time line, they didn't need both of them to fight here too.

"We will have you use an invisibility cloak on top of the armor. We have two cloaks here and I think Harry should use the other one. Both of you can sneak up on the Death Eaters and push then into the trunks. We will not be sending them to the Ministry or Azkaban. It will be too easy for Voldemort to break them out."

"Break them out of Azkaban?" Moony and Regulus said at the same time.

"He did it before in our time line, I see no reason he won't try it again. Better to be safe than sorry. When his troops keep disappearing, he will want to get them back."

"Your brother did it." Harry informed the younger Black.

"My brother was in Azkaban?" Regulus was trying to wrap his brain around the first revelation. "I thought Azkaban was impenetrable and inescapable."

"Not as much as you might think." Severus responded.

Harry felt compelled to explain. "You brother was accused of betraying… someone to Voldemort, and then he was accused of killing muggles so he was sent to Azkaban without a trial. Although he was innocent, he spent twelve years there before he escaped in his grim animagus form. He just slipped right through the bars and left."

Regulus looked at Harry to see if he was joking or something. The face he met was dead serious and pained. He nodded at the younger man and turned back to the group. "So when do we do this?"

"Sal," Severus said to get the man's attention, "do you think you can try to see, in the time mirror, where these people came into the village. We can position our people randomly, but if we can get the Death Eaters as soon as they pop in then we can minimize the risks and the injuries to the civilian people."

Salazar, who had been quietly speaking to Becca said, "I will try when I get back to my quarters. I believe if I work at it tomorrow for several hours, we can find an open window to take a peek at what happened."

"I believe, gentlemen and ladies, that we should send a tip to a certain reporter so that we can have better coverage of the situation. It wouldn't hurt for people to see that Death Eater activities will not be tolerated. We will have to make sure that the Headmaster does not get the credit for the victory though. If we control the media, perhaps we can make things easier this time around." Severus said. Everyone nodded as they thought about the possibilities.

The twelve adults stayed in the room talking for at least another hour before leaving or turning in to get some sleep. The next few days were going to be very busy.


	79. Meeting the Potters

Posted: 22 February 2010

Chapter 79 Meeting the Potters

It was the next day and Becca had just floo called the Potters to see if she and Harry could arrive in an hour. It was already nine in the morning and they needed to get this completed today as Harry would be getting ready for the battle tomorrow. Lily was so excited to have them come so soon, she was not at all put off by the short notice.

James was not there when they arrived. Lily had told them that he had a meeting to go to but would be back by lunch. It would give them enough time to create the runes and visit for a few minutes before they needed him for the ritual itself.

Lily hadn't known how many people were coming, but when Becca had flooed, she had said several people wanted to see how the crest was done so they could learn. It didn't matter; she was most welcoming to every one.

When she was introduced to Harry, she looked at him and then said, "I have the feeling I should know you." Harry was just staring at her and was having a hard time composing the turmoil of emotions. Becca tried to distract Lily by introducing the others.

"This is my fiancé, Salazar and these elves are Sentry Dobby and his assistants. They are with the security sector at Prince Conglomerate. The children's father would not let them out without protection, especially after someone tried to kidnap me from the bookstore."

"I heard about that from one of the other ladies, but there was nothing in the paper about there being any kind of attack." Lily said.

"Just some fan throwing a portkey at me. Sal got it instead, but managed to return a few hours later." Becca said jokingly to diminish the seriousness of the situation.

"Now, this bruiser here is Evan and his sister is Lillian. It's kind of a complicated story, but Harry had been injured when carrying Evan, he was only a few weeks pregnant. We did a fetus transfer to me so the baby would survive while Harry was being treated. Then after he was better, he got pregnant again and this little one was born a month after Evan. We are not quite sure how we will explain it later, other than there were two different carriers."

"Wow, interesting story. They all have a strong family resemblance; so are you and Harry siblings?" Lily asked politely.

"Something like that, I am definitely closely related to Harry. His husband wanted to come, but something came up and he was not able to make it."

"Male pregnancies are very difficult to conceive, or so I hear. Did you have to take a potion? I am sorry if I am being so personal, but I have never met a wizard that gave birth."

"That's alright, I don't mind really." Harry said, finally getting his voice back. "I didn't have to take a potion. In fact both Evan and Lillian were definitely an unplanned surprise." Once he got around the fact that Lily was almost his age, he started to see her as more a sister than his mother. He guessed it might have something to do with the fact that he was not from the same time line she was from.

Becca, who knew they needed to get started, said, "Shall we go to the basement and see the crest and what else needs to be done?"

They had just started to bring the children downstairs, when the floo flared again. When Lily returned to her guests, she was followed by Moony. This was planned so that it didn't seem as if Becca came with a huge entourage of people and they felt it would be as if Moony came to visit the Potters instead of following Becca there. Thank Merlin; Becca had talked Severus out of sending The Seven. She remembered the reaction Walburga had the first time she brought a snake and that had only been one!

When they arrived in the basement, the first thing they did was put all three children in a playpen with a few toys. Now to get to work.

Moony sat in a chair next to the playpen the children were placed in. He was given strict orders by Severus to stick close and be ready for anything. When he sat down, he made sure his wand was easily obtainable from his robe sleeve just, as he had promised. He knew nothing was going to happen in his friend's home, but he would stand guard and watch. They had all learned about several different rituals involving family crests and protection spells when studying with the founders' portraits, but he had never actually seen one.

Salazar was more knowledgeable than Becca at the runes and the arrangement. Becca usually referred to a book when doing difficult work with the symbols, but Sal just sat and spaced them out like he had been doing it for years. It only took him about half an hour after a few questions to Lady Potter. She was most impressed with his work. Of course one could not know everything, so Becca didn't try to help. He had after all, set the symbols in Hogwarts and placed the crests in the foundations of the school over a thousand years ago.

"That was… amazing," Lily said to Becca when Sal was almost finished. "You are a very lucky woman, Becca. When is the wedding?"

"We had sort of planned it one year from Christmas day when he proposed. He is very old pureblood and wants to do things the 'proper' way. We have loved each other for many years but lost contact when I moved to help Harry and his husband. Now we have found each other again and it has been wonderful to have him around."

Becca could see Lily's mind moving a mile a minute, trying to sort everything out in her head. There were several times Becca had sidestepped her questions so she would not have to tell a blatant lie, but if the questions continued, she wasn't sure what she would say.

They heard a noise from upstairs and a voice call out.

"Down here Alice, we are almost finished with the runes."

Alice Longbottom came into the basement and looked around. She had not expected so many people to be in the house.

"Where's James?" Alice asked when she saw Lily alone with all these people.

"At a meeting." She didn't have to say Order meeting, Becca had already worked that out on her own.

"Who are all these people, Lily?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Let me do the introductions."

"Moony and Becca you already know, this is her fiancé, Sal, her brother Harry and the little ones are Harry's children Evan and Lillian."

After exchanging greetings, Alice pulled Lily to the side and whispered, "Uh, Lils, did you just hear what you said? These kids have a version of your name and the younger man has your son's name. Are they for real?"

"I'll talk to you later about it, not now. I think I know who they really are, but it's going to be hard to believe." Lily whispered back. Then she raised her voice, "I agree with you, the runes are beautiful and so perfectly set surrounding the crest. James should be home soon to join the ritual."

She walked over to the others, "Would any of you like tea? I can bring it down here so we don't have to disturb the children."

"That would be wonderful; do you want me to come and help?" Becca asked.

"No, I am sure Alice and I can manage. You can see what else we might need to do the ritual. I will be back in a few minutes."

Lily left the room with Alice in tow, while Harry looked at the two climbing the stairs. As soon as they were out of sight, he turned to Becca. "I think she knows something, or at least suspects. Perhaps we should have told her different names for the babies or even me."

"Harry, you name doesn't matter; it's the family resemblance that has her intrigued the most. I know that she won't say anything to anyone if we ask her not to. Everything will be fine. Trust me."

Harry gave her a skeptical look and then turned around to sit back in the chair he was using while he watched all three babies sleeping.

Up the stairs……………….

Alice was in the kitchen with Lily and put up a privacy spell so they would not be over heard.

"Alright, Lily, what is going on?"

"Did you look at Becca's fiancé? She only introduced him as Salazar, no last name. Did you get a good look at him? I swear he looks like the pictures I have seen of Salazar Slytherin."

"That's just crazy. He may look like the man, but can you explain to me how someone who lived a thousand years ago ended up in your basement?"

"Something I remember reading, back in fifth year, said he was rumored to be a time traveler or a time… something I can't remember. He was purported to be able to manipulate time." Lily crinkled up her forehead in concentration. "I think they are time travelers. I think the younger man in there is somehow my Harry or a counterpart from another time line. He has James' hair and my eyes and chin. He is a little on the small side, but he definitely looks like I would imagine the baby to look in fifteen years or so."

"Lily, this is a little far fetched, even for the wizarding world. I can not believe you are even entertaining this idea for a minute!"

"That's not the only thing I think. I believe Harry is married to Severus Snape."

Alice's eyes got as big as saucers. When she found her voice again she looked at Lily and said only one word. "How?"

"His husband is Severs Prince and I know that Snape's mother was a Prince." Lily said very firmly.

"So you are trying to tell me that Harry and Severs Prince, the owners of Prince Conglomerate are actually your time traveling son and Severus Snape?"

"That's what I think."

Alice put her hand up to Lily's forehead and said, "No, no fever. I think perhaps you are delusional."

"Well, the tea is ready so we need to go back downstairs, but you watch for yourself and tell me what you think later."

James flooed in just as his wife and Alice were going down with the tray of tea and scones for their guests. He volunteered to carry the tray and walked down the steps with Lily and Alice.

"Sorry that took so long," Lily said as she entered the room. "James arrived just in time to carry the tray for me." She then made the introductions, even the children. He got a funny look on his face, but didn't say anything. He did however take a second look at the children and commented.

"Oi, they look like they could be siblings." He laughed at his own foolishness and turned back to the others in the room.

Alice left soon after tea and Becca sat down with James and Lily. She was going out on a limb she knew, but there were seven Potters in the room and she knew the seal would be more powerful with all of them participating.

"I have to tell you something. But I need a wizard's oath that you will not say a word to anyone else." Becca started her conversation with the Potters.

Salazar looked at his fiancé, got her attention and very slightly shook his head no. He had an idea of what she planned, and he didn't want her to go through with it. However, Becca's Gryffindor side was clearly taking charge when she continued to speak to the Potters.

After the Potters each took out their wand and swore on their magic that they would not reveal their secrets, Becca explained further.

"Your crest will be much stronger with seven family members instead of just three. I would like to propose that you allow Harry and me to join you in the ritual as well as the children. With four adults and three children, we would have our seven."

"But how are you related to us?" James asked the woman.

"Harry and I are direct descendents of Rowena Ravenclaw and are related to Lily through her. We are also descended from Godric Gryffindor and related to you that way." Becca said. "You know that many families are interrelated as cousins of some sort in the magical world. It is not that unusual."

Becca had several reasons for saying this. She didn't want to tell them they were her Great-Great Grandparents; she thought that would be a little hard for them to believe. Also she didn't want to say too much in front of Moony although she trusted him completely. Also, if they used her and Harry for the crest ritual, then they would be able to enter the house after Voldemort attacked. In Harry's time line the house was sealed for many years and he was never allowed to see it. She was hoping that with the Seven Soul ritual, the baby would have a better chance of surviving without Voldemort's soul splitting off into his little body.

"Lily, I do have some cousins that are from the Prince family, so this is not as farfetched as it might seem." James said to his wife.

"I would agree to this, but what do you think?" Lily asked James.

"I will agree to it, if it keeps our son safe." James agreed.

So without having to tell them how they were related, the ritual began.

Salazar was the one directing as the others took their places, three of the adults carrying a baby each. James had never been a part of something like this, although he could remember his parents talking about blood protection spells and renewing them every so often.

When the last of the magic was invoked, there was a bright white light and the participants in the room could feel the magic settle into the very foundations of the house. James, who was the only one not holding a child, was nearly knocked on his rear as the magic whooshed by to settle into the crest.

"That was interesting" James said as he walked over to sit in a chair. "Which of you is powerful enough to create all that magic whooshing through the air?"

Becca and Harry just looked at each other and shrugged.

Lily made the observation, "I didn't feel that kind of power at the Longbottom house. What is the difference?"

Becca could have told her having the most powerful wizard for a son was the difference, Severus coming in second, but instead she just replied, "It is the difference between having three and seven for the ritual."

"I know my magic and I know Lily's magic, but that was some other power." James insisted.

"It doesn't matter where the power came from, as long as you stay safe for now and the baby is safe." Harry said. "We should be leaving soon as my husband will be wondering about where I am and if I have managed to get into trouble." He finished his comments with a smirk.

"Wait" James requested. "I was wondering what your views of the war are."

Harry raised an eyebrow at the abrupt change of subject but he carefully thought out his reply. He shifted Lillian, who was sleeping in his arms and finally said, "I believe the war is upon us and things will start happening fast. I think that those of us with children should do all we can to protect them and leave them a legacy if we can."

Harry looked at the man that was his father's counterpart and hoped he would not offend him in what he had to say next. "Everyday I put a memory away so that my children can use a pensieve to see how much I love them. It is a small thing, but if something were to happen to me, it would be all they have. I also have a muggle life insurance policy on me for each child. If something happens and the wizarding world collapses, I want my children to survive in the muggle world. I have an indestructible trunk to put all the memories in so they won't get lost or destroyed. My husband has the same thing. We are also having our portrait done. It may seem extreme to you, but the war took my parents when I was very young. I was left with nothing but a vault and there is not a thing in it that will ever bring them back." Harry finished saying, blinking furiously while desperately holding back the tears. He just hoped the Potters got the message. He then turned to Becca.

"We should go now and let the Potters rest. Using that much magic can be exhausting."

Harry had never really given James an answer about the war; instead focusing on the families that were being destroyed. He wanted to tell the whole wizarding world that this war was nothing but a couple of powerful wizards trying to see who had the bigger stick. That this war didn't really solve anything, but they wouldn't listen to him and he was here to protect Baby Harry as well as others. He would not waste this opportunity.

Moony who had watched silently to see how the whole thing played out, was very proud of Harry. No one had told him if he was actually James Potter's son. But he was more certain now than ever these people had come back because of Baby Harry. There had been references to abuse in Harry's childhood, but he got the impression it was way more than a few incidences. It had to be very major to have Time and the Fates allow all these people to travel back to fix a problem.

The Prince family went upstairs to floo back to their manor after the Potters said their goodbyes and thanks for the help with the protection crest. When they flooed out with the children, the elves picked up the other things for the kids and popped back to the manor.

Moony said his farewells and left as well. He needed to get back to the office and see to a few things before the day was over.

"How can that young man be so old and sensible?" James asked his wife as they were standing, staring at the place where the three adults had been.

"I think that he has had to grow up very fast. He doesn't look to be more than sixteen but he acts as if he were twice that age. His eyes have a wisdom that I have never seen in one so young. What he said makes sense. We should think about what would happen if our son were left all alone."

"Lily, nothing is going to happen to us. We will be fine." James said while putting an arm around his wife.

"You don't know that James, I have a feeling we need to take some of those same precautions.

"I don't want to think about it, but I agree with you. Let's go get our son and make some memories to leave him. He smiled at his wife and picked up his son that was trying to crawl (more like scoot) across the carpet."


	80. Ready or Not, Here We Come

Posted: 27 February 2010

Chapter 80 Ready or Not, Here We Come

When Harry and Becca had arrived back at the manor, Harry put the children down in the nursery and contemplated what he had said to James. He knew things would be different, but he couldn't help but wonder about his own parents and why they hadn't thought to do some of the things he had suggested to the couple of this time line. He remembered the box that had come from the attic that Becca had gotten when she rescued him. He had put it in the back of the wardrobe, afraid of what he might find in it. He knew that his Gryffindor courage should be able to sustain him through it, but the box could contain anything and he was not sure he wanted the memories that would go with it. He hadn't noticed how long he had been in the room with the babies until his husband came in and gently spoke to him.

"Harry, are you alright?" Severus asked with his voice full of concern.

"Huh? Oh, yeah fine." Harry answered a little distractedly.

"Then why are you sitting in here instead of in the dining room eating dinner?"

"Lost track of time I suppose."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?"

"What ever it is on your mind that has you so distracted."

"It's nothing, the babies are asleep now, lets go eat."

Severus took his hand and pulled him up out of the rocking chair. He knew something was bothering his mate, and he would be sure to find out later. For now, they made their way to the dining room and sat down to eat with the others.

Harry was overly quiet all evening. Severus didn't think he had strung two words together except "Uh huh" and "Yeah, alright". He didn't even think Harry remembered what anyone said.

Later that night when they were getting ready for bed, after checking on the babies, Severus approached Harry again about what was on his mind. His husband had been in a melancholy mood all evening and he though it might be something to do with his visit to the Potters.

"Harry" he said gently, "please tell me what is wrong."

"It was just seeing the Potters. I was wondering why my parents didn't leave me some memories or something to let me know they cared. There is a box in the wardrobe that I have never looked in. It was taken from the Dursley's house when Becca collected my things. I was thinking, maybe I should check and see if there is something in there from my mother. I... I am not sure I can handle it. If it turns out to be nothing important, I would be disappointed. If it is something important, I'm not sure I can handle the emotions of seeing something from my parents."

"Would you like me to look at it for you?" Severus asked. He wasn't sure he could handle the flood of emotions connected to Lily's memorabilia either, but he would help his husband any way that he could.

Harry seemed to pull himself together and looked at his husband. "No, I think I will wait until after tomorrow. I don't want to be distracted in battle."

"Harry, you are distracted now and I don't really want you coming if you are not focused. Maybe you should skip this one. There will be other battles you can go to, to get your revenge." Severus smirked at him.

"No, it is not fair to ask others to do something I am not prepared to do myself. I will be fine Sev. It was just going to the Potter's today that brought up the feelings."

"You know I love you, right?" Severus put his arms around the depressed teen and whispered, "Let's go to bed and dream of pleasant things."

They got ready for bed and when they were comfortable, Severus with his arms around his lover. It took them a long time to go to sleep. Harry worried about the box and Severus worried about Harry.

Then next morning......

The dining room was packed with people. Evidently there was no shortage of people that wanted to get a little of their own back on the Death Eaters that had tormented their families, neighbors, or friends. Even Sentry Dobby and a few of his underlings were willing and ready and actually had their own battle gear that fit them perfectly. It seems Seamstress Sissy and the goblins had been very busy.

Salazar had indeed gotten a pretty good picture of the events in his time mirror. He brought the memory of the battle (if you could call it that), Salazar wanted to call it a slaughter. When he put the memory in a pensieve, it was Severus and Harry that said a spell together in some guttural unknown language and moved the image to the wall so everyone could see it at one time.

"Where did you learn that?" Salazar wanted to know.

The two men smiled for the first time that morning and answered together, "Arbulee"

Everyone watched the screen as a group of five death eaters apparated into the town center and started the fires as a group of twenty spread around the outskirts of the town, to keep people penned in. They were positioned about fifteen to twenty meters apart. A few of the teenagers were captured and Severus gave a shudder at what he knew they would be used for.

All those in the room that were going, had been fitted for their gear the day before. They had practiced with the spells and trunks they would be using, and everyone felt more than ready to meet the challenge of saving the village. After some heavy discussions with Tonks, Remus talked her into staying to help Becca with the children. He had to promise to give her a pensieve memory of the battle and to let her go next time. Remus, who had the most experience in war conflict, was going to this one since he had said the same thing Harry did. "I can't send people in there if I won't go myself". If both parents went into battle, there was a risk of their child becoming an orphan.

It had also been decided that this was the only battle in which Harry and Severus would be going together. After this, they would not be fighting together, unless it was something really big. Each of the men knew just what it would mean if they were both killed in an attack. They were hoping to avoid that by eliminating Death Eaters one by one.

Harry and Severus arrived in the village approximately two hours ahead of the attack. They were wearing muggle clothes to blend in with the crowd and scouting out the area. Rita was in her animagus form on Harry's shoulder (she was still trying to understand how he knew about it, no one knew, she didn't even know until a few months ago).

It was a quaint little town. The villagers were going to their different businesses and a few cars going to and from their destinations. It was not a congested area and the shops were still open for business. He didn't know why the Death Eaters had chosen to do this in the daylight, for it would make being discrete that much more difficult.

The Prince family made an agreement with Rita Skeeter. She would be the unofficial news reporter for Prince Conglomerate, but only if she wrote the unembellished truth. They would call her whenever they knew a story was 'juicy' and she would get all the exclusives. The woman had been working her way into the news related field for the past ten years, but because she was labeled a half-blood in her youth, it had been difficult. When she had heard about the squib born not being muggle born, she had gone to Gringotts, not only to get her own story, but to take the inheritance test as well. Although she was not from a famous blood line, it had been revealed that she was a pureblood witch and entitled to a small vault and some family heirlooms. Now the Princes were giving her a chance to get in on the stories that others would never find.

When Severus and Harry noticed a Pavilion in the middle of the town square, they knew they could use that as ground cover. It was a raised platform, easy enough to hide under. As they walked around they discretely placed notice me not charms around the area where the Death Eaters would arrive, and then they hid under the pavilion. They placed one of the trunks they would be using at the bottom of the stairs in it's miniaturized form and decided to wait for the show.

Sentry Dobby had popped to where the couple was, and reported that all the others were in their places and hidden from view. Harry chuckled when Sentry Dobby was standing straight up and he and Severus were lying on the ground. The space under the pavilion was only about a meter high. Dobby still had ten or fifteen centimeters to spare when he was standing up straight.

It was half past four and the information they had, said the attack began approximately at five in the evening. Everyone was in place and was ready to erect the anti apparation wards as soon as the Death Eaters were in sight. Harry and Severus put on their gear and waited..., and waited... and waited.

"Sev, when do you think they are coming?" Harry asked, his heart pounding with fear that something had gone wrong. It seemed to be taking forever for the attackers to show up.

"Harry, it's only been fifteen minutes and they could be as late at half past five. Just be patie...."

Pop. Pop. PopPopPop. The sounds of apparation were in the air.

"Now!" Severus whispered hoarsely. He and Harry pointed their wands at the group of five of Voldemort's sycophants and whispered together, "Expelliramus" and "Incarcerus." Vibrant colored ropes, seven strands thick, came from both wands; each rope winding around the men in the opposite direction of the other, even as ten wands flew through the air to the two wizards under the pavilion. Harry laughed, they had not only the wands belonging to the Death Eaters; they had their spare wands also. When they were finished, the five Death Eaters looked like a butterfly cocoon and were completely incapacitated. Harry enlarged the acromantula trunk that had been placed at the bottom of the stairs of the raised platform, while Severus levitated the whole group to land inside the box. They had been shouting and screaming until the lid of the trunk slammed shut and cut of the cacophony of sounds the five men were making.

Harry just had to state the obvious, "Five down, and twenty to go."

At the same time Harry and Severus were taking care of their sector, Regulus and Moony were one of the ten, two man, teams on the outskirts of the village. They were hidden in an invisible trunk and were looking through the 'peep holes' that had been placed in lower corners, but spelled for a wider range. Who would have thought a muggle invention would be used in a wizard trunk? Small holes (about five centimeters in diameter) had been drilled at the base of the trunk. These were just large enough to slip a wand through. Because the inside of the trunk was spelled larger than the outside, both men had plenty of room to stand up and look through the peep holes and use their wands.

Soon they heard the sound of popping. One was approximately five meters away from where Moony was standing and the other was about ten meters away from Regulus. Perfect, they both sent stunners to the two men and after summoning their wands, they carefully levitated the men into a trunk designed to hold them until they could be questioned. After a few minutes they got out of their trunk and mounted the brooms they had brought with them. Shrinking their hiding place, they levitated the trunk with the prisoners and moved to see if the others needed help and to collect other prisoners on the way. They found three more Death Eaters on the ground as they zipped around looking for their cohorts.

In the visual of the attack, they had seen twenty Voldemort sycophants surrounding the small village. Each of them approximately fifteen to twenty meters apart. The strategy was to place a two man team between every two of the scum. The layout would then be, one Death Eater then ten meters later a two man team then two Death Eaters and another two man team until they surrounded the entrances to the small town. Every team would have an enemy on each side. But they were sure that some of the attackers would not land exactly where they thought they would and there was always the possibility the mirror didn't show everything.

Remus Sr. was paired with Snape and they were hiding behind the shrubbery in their sector. When the Death Eaters popped into their section, Remus was able to knock one down, but the Death Eater on Snape's side saw the spell coming and was able to block it. As soon as he realized he was under attack, he tried to apparate out of the area. Snape was able to get another stunner off as the other man was concentrating on apparating, but then bounced off the anti-apparation wards. Remus and Snape then waited to see if any more were going to show up.

Regulus and Moony showed up and put the two new prisoners into the same trunk, always collecting the wands as they went. They now had ten men as they had picked up a few more before arriving to Remus and Snape's sector. The four men nodded to each other as they went on their way. Remus Sr. and Snape were to patrol the area within the last one hundred meters for anyone else trying to infiltrate what had already been 'swept'. Both Snape and Remus Sr. used a disillusioning charm and mounted their brooms. They kept close to the trees and high in the air to give them some cover in case anyone attacked.

Gorbink and Griphook were with two other goblins, covering one of the two entrances into the village. It had been suggested that if more than two Death Eaters would join the attack it would be at the entrances. As soon as four pops in rapid succession were heard, like muggle gun fire, the goblins quickly put up wards to cage them in and started their attack with swords. One of the Voldemort followers tried to get an Aveda Kedavra off, but the goblin behind him quickly sliced his sword through the air and cut off the man's wand hand. They had been told not to kill anyone. No ever said about maiming them, and goblins were a bloodthirsty culture.

Another goblin cut into a man's ankle when he tried to run and hide, another was just shoved into the prison trunk from the side and never saw it coming. One of the wizards was a young boy, fresh out of Hogwarts and dropped his wand when a goblin had him at knife point in the back while another was holding a sword to his belly in the front. They would interrogate them later to find out who the true followers were and who had been coerced into following what's-his-face.

The four vampires, with their speed and agility had their two sectors clear in one minute flat. The Death Eaters that landed in their areas didn't even see them coming. The prisoners were quickly dragged to where the goblins were, and put into a prison trunk. By the time they reached their cohorts, the prisoners were covered in bumps and bruises and scratches from the underbrush along the path. They were unceremoniously thrown into the prison trunk, without as much as a thought about their comfort. Truly, if they hadn't been tainted with so much evil, the vampires would have been tempted to snack on them. To the vampires, however, evil had a bad aftertaste. The sweet taste of virgin blood was more to their liking.

The goblins and vampires were standing guarding the prisoners when three sharp small pops were heard. They immediately turned to the sound, weapons drawn and ready to decimate the unseen enemy, but they only saw three small house elves standing off to the side of the clearing. Gorbink recognized one of the elves instantaneously and frowned.

"Sentry Dobby, what is the problem?"

"Masters need your help. We will pop you there right now!" One of the elves took a hand each on two of the vampires, Sentry Dobby took a hand each on two of the goblins and turned to the third elf, "You stay and help guard the trunk. I will call you if we need more help." When the third elf bowed his head in response to his orders, the other two popped to the town pavilion.

They had landed at the back of one of the businesses, when Dobby informed them. "Rebastian Lestrange has taken two captives and Masters are trying not to hurt them while restraining Mr. Lestrange."

Knowing the reputation the Lestranges had for their barbarism, Sentry Dobby had not even finished his sentence before the goblins and vampires started moving around the building to the pavilion in the open square. They stayed well hidden watching Severus and Harry try to get an opening to shoot the stunning spells. Not knowing if the two captives were muggle or magical, they had to be extra careful. Muggles reacted differently to spells; a simple stunner could stop a muggle's heart if too strong.

Severus caught sight of their backup first, and then gave a nod to Harry. When Severus tilted his head to the side, he knew exactly what to do. Raising their wands, Severus shouted "Accio girl" just as Harry said "Accio boy" and the two captives were wretched from the arms of their captor even as the vampires stunned the man, took his wand and threw him with a not so gentle levitation spell into the prison trunk.

As the lid of the trunk snapped shut, Severus asked, "Is everyone alright?" All of his people nodded and Harry turned to the two youths that had almost become pet food for the Death Eaters and Voldemort. "Do either of you know what is going on?" Even as he asked the question, he felt a slight weight land on his shoulder. Ah, Rita must have come out of the tree.

The boy nodded. "We are related to someone in the Order that fights against 'the bad ones'. My sister and I are squibs so we live here with our muggle aunt. We don't know who you are, but thank you for helping us." As the young boy spoke, Harry thought they could not be much older than twelve, or thirteen in the case of the sister. Such a travesty if they had actually been taken to 'the bad man' as the boy had called him.

They were a strange site to the younger boy and girl. They had on black masks, but the masks did not cover their mouths. They were dressed in fine boots and cloaks and were powerful, that was evident by how quickly things were handled. The young boy looked at Harry curiously and asked, "Who are you and if asked what should we say?" They both lived in a world where the magical was kept secret from the muggle. It was not new to them and the young boy wanted to know what he could tell others when they asked.

His sister was still clinging to Severus and shaking, but he gently disentangled himself from her and handed her over to the brother standing there. Harry answered the young boy's question, "We would prefer to remain unknown. You may tell others of the attack as I am sure it will be in the Daily Prophet tomorrow and only that someone came to help 'even the odds'." Harry said with a smirk. People would find out soon enough who they were.

"Do you know the expression 'level the playing field'? Harry asked the boy. The youth looked at him and shook his head.

"No"

"It is the concept that every one has a same chance and plays by the same rules as everyone else in a game or competition. You may tell others that someone came to 'level the playing field'." Harry told the boy cryptically.

The boy got a grin across his face and said, "Yes Sir." Then he looked at his sister and said, "Come on Sis, it's all over and we're safe." As the boy was leaving he turned around again and said, "Thanks mister!"

Harry and Severus watched the two young ones go and looked around. The others were gathering around and Salazar came towards them. "It seems everything is clear. I do believe we managed to collect all the attackers that came. I heard you two had a little bit of excitement."

As they were standing there, the others apparated into the town square also to report. Everyone was fine and no one sustained injuries. They all knew they would not always be that lucky, but with their resources they could be better prepared than anyone else.

Harry, who could still feel the slight weight on his shoulder said, "That's it Rita, not much excitement but it is an exclusive. Don't print about the kids being related to someone in the Order. You will make them targets for every Death Eater out there. Just say that Lestrange had two captives and leave it at that. Alright, off you go. Make us proud of your work. We look forward to seeing it in tomorrow's paper." With that said the small beetle left the shoulder of the young leader and flew off to write her story.

Severus cancelled the anti-apparation wards to allow the elves and goblins to get back to their homes. Then Harry took out three portkeys and placed them on each of the prison trunks.

"Mission Control" he said without hesitation and sent the trunks where no one would find them. The missive from the future said Becca's two grandfathers would arrive in about May to Between Manor. That would be at least two months from now. Harry had attached a note to the trunks letting them know what was in them. The captives would be alright if not very bored. The trunks had a kitchen spelled to restock and a bathroom and beds. Of course they would have to clean up after themselves and cook for themselves and there were several books, all written by the Prince family, for them to read. Perhaps they would learn something.


	81. The Box

Posted: 28 February 2010

Chapter 81 The Box

The day had been rather anticlimactic but gratifying for the men on their return to Prince Manor. No one was injured, except for a few Death Eaters but some of the other darker creatures considered the attack too easy.

"Let's not get complacent" Severus warned the group when one of the goblins said something about it. "They were not expecting anyone but perhaps the Order and they don't have our resources to execute a mission like this. They will find out about our strategies eventually and it will only become harder from then on. We must not let down our guard at any time."

"We need to find out how many followers Tom Riddle has." Salazar said.

"I know he had about a hundred when I was in there. Is that about right, Snape?" Regulus said.

"Agreed, but there have been some that have already been freed from the mark so it would be fewer if our numbers are accurate. Of course we don't know how many he has recruited since then." Snape replied.

"We only captured twenty-four today. Remus Sr. had ten in his trunk, Gorbink had eight and Severus and I ended up with six. I thought we were expecting at least twenty-five." Harry summed up the count and noticed they were missing a Death Eater.

Salazar explained, "We could have miscounted, or something happened to prevent one from coming. The mirror shows the events from that point forward, but they are always subject to change."

Suddenly an elf popped in to tell Becca the children were waking. It was Harry however that answered, "I will be there in ten minutes. Becca you stay, Sev can catch me up later. Excuse me everyone, it seems my children are in need of my presence." Harry left the room, took a quick shower and arrived in the nursery just as Evan was giving out a hearty yell.

"Oh, come here my little one." Harry answered his son's cry. When he settled down into the rocking chair, the elf handed him his daughter also. They were getting bigger and harder to handle at one time, but Harry loved spending this time with them. He had never seen himself as a Dad when he was younger, but that was probably because he hadn't seen himself alive after Voldemort. Now he had two precious babies that he would give his own life for, in a heartbeat.

As he fed and changed them, he started thinking about the box in the back of the wardrobe. He felt like he might be ready to open it soon; perhaps tonight depending on when the meeting finished and how Severus was feeling. Today was a victory, but they could not rest on this one success.

Evan was banging on some infants musical instrument they had bought him from a muggle store when Severus walked in and saw Harry sitting on the floor with the children. Lillian was trying to 'help' Evan by holding his hand so she could bang with him. The soft squishy piano with the over sized keys, was taking a pounding as the two made a song. It seemed like they had only started to sit up, but now at eight and seven months they could scoot and crawl around quite a bit, and if you weren't keeping an eye on them they would pull up on the furniture and try to walk; Evan more than Lillian, but she would try to copy her brother as much as possible.

Remus Sr. and Tonks often let Teddy stay with the younger children. They were spending several months in the training room with the founders' portraits, but not all at one time. They were keeping it to eight hours a day, which was really eight days of training and then coming out to take care of their son. Severus had arranged with the Australian Ministry for them to take their Master tests in a few months so that they would have valid certification in the current time line. They already knew most of what they needed, if not all, but the time with the founders would give them a refresher of the material and also let them test for more than what they had before.

They stayed in the nursery, watching the children play, until both Evan and Lillian had drooping eyelids and nearly fell asleep on the carpet.

Severus picked up his son from the floor mat and lifted him into his arms. "Come here my little sleepy one, Papa is going to put you to bed." He couldn't help but hold him for just a few minutes, when he turned to Harry and said, "I don't spend enough time with them."

"We both have been busy, but you will be able to spend more time with them as soon as this war is over." Harry assured him.

"The war between good and evil is never over Harry." Severus said quietly. "There will always be some conflict in the world."

"Yeah, but like you have pointed out to me so many times before, not every conflict is yours to fight and you can't save everyone."

"This must be the example of the student teaching the Professor." Severus chuckled and felt Evan burrow closer into his chest. Harry with Lillian in his arms snuggled close to Severus and they had one big group hug. There was a small thrum of magic, as if to say that the children were happy, safe and protected.

The two men put their sleeping infants down in their cribs and set the alarms for when they awoke. They quietly left the room, closing the door behind them.

"Are you ready?" Harry asked his husband.

"Ready for what?" Severus asked with a devilish grin.

"Not that" Harry said in exasperation. "Ready to open the box with me."

"Are you sure you want to tackle that tonight?"

"I'm sure." Harry responded.

"Then lead the way." Severus said with a sweeping gesture of his arm for Harry to precede him.

Harry was nervous as he entered their bedroom. His hands were shaking slightly and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He went to the wardrobe, all the way to the back and pulled out the shrunken, old cardboard box.

Inside the box was another box. It was wooden with beautiful, intricate carvings in the top and on the sides. It was polished to a glossy mahogany but you could see the layers of dust collected on it over the years. Harry wiped away some of the dust and grime to see what was carved on the top. In the center was a roaring Griffin flanked by a snake and eagle on either side in smaller carvings. On the sides of the box were little badgers all around the box. Each carving of the animal had a crown on their head and a cloak around their neck.

"Sev, look, it's so beautiful." Harry said as he breathed a sigh. He never expected something so ornate to be in the old dilapidated cardboard box.

Severus put his arm around his husband. If the truth were known, Severus' heart was pounding just as quickly and unsteadily as Harry's. But of course he wouldn't show it. His hands were steady as a rock and the mask on his face was of complete control. He watched as Harry held the box for a few minutes just staring at it.

"So are you going to open it?" Severus finally asked after about fifteen minutes.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess I should do that" was the distracted reply from the younger man.

Harry slid his thumb over the clasp in the front of the box and jerked his hand back as he felt a prick. "Ouch!" He said as he quickly brought his thumb to his mouth. "That hurt!"

"What happened? Here let me see." Said Severus.

"No, it's alright. It just pricked me so it must have some kind of blood test. Could be why no one has opened it before." Harry looked at his thumb to see if it was still bleeding and then gently lifted the lid on the box.

On top was a small hand sewn quilt with Harry's name on it. It was blue with figures sewn into it. A snitch, a broom, a ball, a dog, a stag and a werewolf all sewn into the cloth with a dark blue background. It had his initials at each corner and he could see it was packed carefully with tissue paper wrapped around it. The paper was old and faded and nearly fell apart as he took it out.

Under the quilt, were a few vials that looked like memories. There were also what looked to be miniaturized books as well as letters on old parchment. Harry looked at the books that were no bigger than a deck of cards and set them aside for later. He looked toward his husband, but Severus was already asking Kreacher to get a pensieve that they could use. Harry hadn't even heard him call for the elf.

He picked up the first letter and opened it to read,

* * *

My dearest Harry,

It is unfortunate that when you were born it was during a time of war when there is so much turmoil in the world. Just in case something happens to us and we are separated from you, the information in this box was to let you know you are very much loved. My darling, the memories are numbered as well as the journals and we suggest you look at them in order.

If you are opening this without us, then know that we miss you very much. If we are there with you, then you can laugh at us a call us paranoid. Either way our love for you endures forever.

Love

Mom and Dad

* * *

Harry looked at the memories and picked up the vial labeled number one. He turned to Severus with tears in his eyes and Severus just held him for a few minutes before indicating the pensieve in the room.

As if in a trance the young man slowly took the few steps to the bowl sitting on a small table in the room. He gently poured the contents of the vial into the bowl and stood there for a few minutes, saying nothing. He looked at his older husband and still without saying a word tugged on his hand and they both fell into the memories that had been stored nearly eighteen years.

They landed in a sitting room, looking at a very pregnant redhead sitting on the sofa calling for James. He came into the room carrying a tray of tea items, as well as chips, chocolate syrup, ice cream and mustard. Harry and Severus both felt like intruders into the little scene.

"James," the young woman said, "I thought I told you I wanted pickles!"

"We are out of pickles, but I called Sirius to bring some later this evening." The young man replied.

"Just make sure that he does, or your hair will be green again." Pouted the young woman.

Harry laughed at the similarities of the conversation he had with Severus during his pregnancy. Then the scene changed.

They were in a hospital room and the nurse was just handing an infant, wrapped in a blue blanket to the young woman in the bed. Her hair was plastered in a mess around her face from sweat and she looked completely exhausted, then her face lit up like the sun when the newborn was settled into her arms. Her husband, at her side, was cooing over the child and announcing to the nurse that his name was Harry James Potter.

Then the scene changed. The young couple were sitting in a room at what Harry presumed was located in the house at Godric's Hollow. Young James Potter was holding his son, who appeared to be about six months old, and was looking straight ahead as if talking to the phantom Harry standing in the room.

"Son, we both had a dream and put this together so that you would know the truth when it came time." The man started, he swallowed hard and started talking again. "In the dream we were told that you would inherit our powers upon our death and have the power to vanquish Voldemort. Please know that we would give our lives a hundred times over just to keep you safe." James then chocked up and Lily took over the conversation.

"We love you with all our heart, Harry. Please do not be sad for us. We know that with our death, Voldemort will be neutralized until a time that you can defeat him. It will save so many people. We have made provisions to our will if this really happens. You are to go to Sirius Black or Alice Longbottom. We want you to find happiness and honor our sacrifice for what it is. Someday you will have children and will know that a parent will do anything to protect their child."

James had recovered at that point and picked up the conversation. "The box we used to place this information in is called a founders' box. It has been passed down in my family for generations. It contains a copy of our will and what information we thought necessary for your continued safety and happiness. Only another Potter can open the box, so the information should not be tampered with. We wish you well, and remember we are always keeping an eye on you from above."

The memory ended and the men left the bowl and climbed back into the bedroom.

Harry was in emotional shock when he climbed out of the bowl. Severus got him ready for bed and put the young man down to sleep, after giving him a half glass of water with a small amount of sleeping draft mixed in. He then climbed into the bed himself, pulling his lover to his side, neither one saying anything and slowly drifting into slumber.

Severus woke up around two in the morning with the alarm telling him one of the children was awake. He extracted his arms from around Harry, knowing he wouldn't wake, and went to see the children. Lillian was standing in her crib with little fat tears running down her face as she hugged her favorite stuffed hippogriff. When she saw Severus in the room, she held out her little arms and he picked her up. It didn't take long to find out what was causing her unhappiness, so he changed her nappy and settled in the rocking chair to lull her back to sleep.

"There should be a law against beautiful little girls creating that much of a stench." He said quietly so as not to wake her brother. She giggled and cooed at him and was once again a happy little girl.

He didn't often get to do this. Obviously when they were younger they had to feed from one of the carriers. Now they were weaned and he could help take care of them. He loved the feeling when one of the babies would snuggle into his chest, just like Lillian was doing now. She was so cute when she was sleeping and making little sucking noises as if she were trying to feed from the bottle. Severus gently touched her face and brushed her hair away from her eyes before setting her back down in the crib. He placed her blanket over her and, after a few minutes, silently headed back to his bedroom.

He smiled when he noticed that Harry had twined his arms around the pillow on Severus' side of the bed. He gently pulled it out of his grasp and lay back down on the bed and Harry unconsciously curled up to Severus and settled back down without ever waking up during the night.

The next morning when Harry woke up, he slid out of the bed, went through his morning ablutions, and made his way to the nursery. He watched both of the children, lying in their cribs, and Evan with a thumb in his mouth.

He then made his way to the dining room where Severus was already seated as well as Regulus, Moony and the Lupin family. Becca came in a minute later and Salazar about five minutes after that. Once everyone was assembled, the breakfast was served and Severus conducted a meeting.

"Harry and I have some unexpected things to do today. I called you guys here to see if someone wanted to go to Between Manor and interrogate the prisoners. They may be willing to tell us how many followers Voldemort has left and what he is planning. See if they have any information we don't already have."

Moony spoke up first. "I would love to go, is it alright if Snape comes with me? I was wondering why he wasn't here. Usually you call all of us when something like this comes up."

"I did call him, but he was in the middle of brewing something that had to sit overnight." Severus replied. He didn't want anyone to think they were not trusted. "I told him that you or Reg would fill him in later." Regulus also nodded his head in assent to going.

"If you don't mind, I would like to go too." Salazar stated to the group. "I want to see if there is anything we need to do for the arrival of our guests and what provisions need to be replenished."

"If they are going then Tonks and I will spend the day in the training room. I never would have thought there was so much I could learn and teach on. Those portraits are amazing." Severus nodded his head. There were plenty of elves to help Becca with the three children if she needed it.

As breakfast came to a close, Severus looked at the group, "Thank you for helping with this. I didn't want to put off the interrogations, but Harry and I have more pressing matters. We will see you again tomorrow."

When the others left, Becca looked at the two men remaining with a raised eyebrow in askance of an unspoken question.

"We are going through the box." Severus said softly as Harry was leaving the room. Becca nodded her head but didn't say anything. 'About time' was the expression on her face.

Severus nodded and followed Harry into the bedroom to go over more of the things his parents left. When he entered the room, his husband was already putting in the vial of memories marked number two. They entered together and landed in the same room as before.

"Harry" James was saying. "In our dream, someone said that you may be soulmated to Severus Snape. You should know that our little group at school did not treat him well and I am afraid that this may complicate your relationship. Please tell him for me that I was a jealous prat and apologize for everything we did. We don't know how old you will be when viewing this, but you need to seek him out and let him know. There are spells and potions to confirm the existence of a soulmate and who they are."

Lily said, "We know that he may be bitter and that he was leaning towards Voldemort's group, but perhaps you can help him to see the light. Please tell him for me that I am very sorry." There was sadness in her eyes that confirmed her statement.

The memory continued in this vein. Giving Harry instructions on who to talk to and to ask for help if he needed it.

The third memory talked about the box. There were only four of them, one for each house descendent. Gryffindor of course had the Lion in the center of the lid. The one for Slytherin had the snake in the center as did Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. It was to show unity and how every difficult decision is solved by using all four aspects held dear by each house.

The third memory showed different scenes of Harry growing up. Of course it didn't go beyond his first birthday, but it was fun to see his mother getting very aggravated with James for buying the baby a broom and letting him fly around when he could barely walk.

The fourth and fifth memories were about the war and what they were doing on a daily basis for the war effort. I contained some information about the Order and a few of their friends. At the end of the fifth show, James said, "Harry, you cannot trust anyone completely. I don't know who you have around you, but please be very careful. We believe Dumbledore is orchestrating some of the war effort for his own agenda. If you tell no one your secrets, no one can tell them to anyone else. Please be careful son, we love you."

By the time they had finished all the memories and looked over the diaries, it was well past lunchtime. Harry set aside the books and letters to look at another time when he was a little less emotional.

That evening when he and Severus went to bed, he fell right to sleep. It had been a long and emotional day.


	82. Where are They

Posted: 06 March 2010

Chapter 82 Where Are They?

"I wish I were going with you." Becca said to Sal as he got ready to leave with the other four men.

"There is no reason and you need to stay with the children. You can go next time."

"I will hold you to that promise, Salazar Slytherin." Becca said seductively just as she leaned up for a goodbye kiss, placing her arms around his neck.

Now, Salazar was not into public displays of affection, and had kept a reserve around Becca just so he could keep his hands off her. But, when she pressed up against him like that, it was very hard to keep his resolve. He wondered if she knew what she was doing to him.

As the kiss started to heat up, Regulus loudly cleared his throat to get their attention. Sal whispered in his fiancé's ear, "We have an audience and I need to leave. We will pick up this conversation later."

He then gave her a brief kiss on the top of her head and looked at his traveling companions. "Are we ready to leave?"

As the others nodded, Salazar said "Mission Control" and they were off to Between Manor.

When the men had left, Becca sighed and went into the children's nursery, Teddy following so he could see Ewan and Wi. Becca looked at the little tike and shook her head. He just couldn't get his mouth around the name Lillian and instead shortened it to Li or Wi, and sometimes he managed Wiwin.

"An' Bec'a" Teddy looked up at her to say as he tugged on her shirt, "Cn Teddy fwry?" (Aunt Becca, can Teddy fly?). The young woman smiled at the little boy. She and Tonks had been trying to teach him how to pronounce the 'L' sound, but it still didn't come out right, so now 'fry' became 'fwry'.

"Oh, Sweetie, not here in the nursery, there isn't really enough room. Would Teddy like to go swimming?" she answered him back. He could fly in the pool room.

"Teddy like fwimmin, An Bec'a" the little boy said with a big smile on his face. (Teddy like swimming, Aunt Becca)

"How about we take Evan and Lillian swimming with us? Would you like that?" Becca smiled down at the toddler. He was so cute with his hair turning bright colors in his excitement.

"Sentry Dobby!" She called out.

"Yes, Mistress Prince? What can Sentry Dobby do for you?"

"Can we have a few security elves set up the swimming pool area for the three children? Are they busy?" Becca asked the excitable elf.

"Oh, no, Mistress Becca, we are not busy. The Masters Prince said to have extra elves on duty to help Mistress Becca with the children. Sentry Dobby has three elves including Dobby to help you today."

Becca wasn't sure she needed three sentry elves, although they were to protect the children, even if it was from drowning. The nanny elf would be coming too. But, she thought, the more the merrier.

"Nanny Minty!" Becca called to another elf.

When the little elf popped into the nursery, she curtsied nicely and bowed her head. "Yes Mistress Prince?"

"We are going to the pool room, please pack things for the children and help me get them there. We will be staying for lunch."

"Yes Mistress Becca" All of a sudden things started flying through the room into the babies carry bags. The double stroller was placed at the doorway and Becca picked up Lillian first and put her in the stroller then Evan. They were strapped in and just a few minutes later they were all ready to leave for the pool area.

The room was still decorated as the undersea Great Barrier Reef. Teddy pointed to a few of the starfish, seahorses and coral floating above his head. They spread out a blanket on the floor (the elves had already made it like soft sand) and placed a few toys on it for Lillian and Evan. Teddy pulled on Becca's shirt to get her attention.

"Teddy, fwry now, An Bec'a?" (Teddy, fly now, Aunt Becca?) the toddler asked earnestly. His big hazel eyes like round saucers at the thought of getting on his little kiddie broom again. It was his favorite toy. Becca didn't know about Remus, but she knew the child must have gotten the love of flying from his mother.

"Yes, Sweetie, you may fly. Make sure you tell Sentry Dobby before you get on the broom and when you are finished, you can go swimming."

Teddy pulled his broom out of his carry bag with some of his other toys for the pool and then remembered what his aunt said. "Senty Dobb!" The little boy called out.

When the elf popped by the young Master's side, the little boy was so excited he was jumping up and down saying "An Bec'a sayed Teddy fwry! Teddy hav ta tew Senty Dobb ta wat Teddy." It was only the fact that Sentry Dobby had spent so many hours with the children that he understood what the child meant. (Aunt Becca said that Teddy could go flying. Teddy had to tell Sentry Dobby so he could watch him.)

"Would Master Teddy like Sentry Dobby to watch him fly?" the elf asked the toddler.

Teddy nodded his head up and down a few times before holding up his broom and mounting it. He saw the elf watching him so he rose about forty five centimeters off the floor and started flying across the room. Soon the little rascal was flying over the water and dipping his bare feet into the pool. Becca was glad the little child's broom was spelled to go slow. She was sure that if it would go faster, Teddy would be going at breakneck speeds around the whole room.

Becca watched from her seat on the sidelines as Evan was walking holding the Nanny elf's hands. He took a few tentative steps before falling on his bottom, only to try again. One of the Sentry elves was rolling a ball around for Lillian and Becca raised her face to the warm magical sunshine as the children played.

She didn't have to worry about Teddy falling into the pool. Not only were there security guards to help him, but the pool was spelled so that unless you really wanted to swim, you could only go in up to your chest. If Teddy fell in any part of the pool, he would only go in so far and if he was face down, the water would float him to the top of the pool and solidify so no water could get in his lungs, then an alarm would go off. Unless learning to swim with an adult, the safety features could not be deactivated even with accidental magic.

At a manor in an undisclosed location…

The man in black robes was pacing in an angry fury. He had let off a few stray curses just to relieve some of the built up anger and magic that had collected in his system. His magical core was feeding off the rage that was becoming increasingly uncontrollable as each minute ticked by.

"Where is he?" he asked no one in particular in the room. "I have not seen any of the nitwits that left yesterday and they should have been back here with those kids. How long does it take to collect two squib teenagers?" He screamed into the room.

Those of the inner circle that were available were kneeling in the room and staying very still, not even daring to flinch when a stray curse left the man's wand and got near to where someone was bowing in entreaty.

"Belletrix, you will tell me where that brother in law of yours happens to be at this moment!" the angry Dark Lord screamed at one of his followers.

"I do not know my Lord, but I will be happy to start searching if you would like."

"If I would like?" the Dark Lord screamed in his impatience. "Of course I would like! All of you should be searching for the team I sent out yesterday! WORMTAIL!" He shouted.

"Y…Y…Yes M…Master?" the rat of a man stuttered at the command.

"You will go to Hogwarts and spy on the old man for me. You must ascertain if he found out about our raid last night and see if he took prisoners. AND FIND OUT WHO LEAKED THE INFORMATION!" The Dark Lord screamed again as he continued his pacing while the others in the room were waiting to be dismissed.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get out here and find my followers!" shrieked the man, his tone almost to the point of showing signs of dementia.

The five people in the room couldn't get out of there fast enough. They knew they would have to go to the family members and torture the answers out of them.

At Between Manor…

Just as Salazar and the others lifted the lids of the three trunks in the room, screams could be heard throughout the area. "Merlin" Salazar shouted to the above the others, "what is their problem?"

Snape looked into the trunk that he was standing beside with his usual blank mask on his face. His look then turned to one of amusement as he stated, "I believe someone is trying to summon them" he said casually.

All four men looked down into the trunks as the men twitched and screamed. Salazar made the observation, "If that's what it is like to follow that pathetic psychopath, then why do they?" No one missed the stress he put on the words 'pathetic psychopath'.

"They don't know what it is like until they join, and after they join, it is too late to get away." Regulus stated. "I can only tell you that I owe Harry and Severus my life." The young man flexed his left arm in remembrance of the times he had been summoned and had not been able to answer right away.

"Do you think they want to still be tied to that megalomaniac?" Salazar asked the men. All the while they had to talk loud to be heard above the screams.

All of a sudden the screams stopped just as Regulus said loudly, "I guess we would have to ask them. I wonder what else they know about Voldemort's plans."

"You won't get anything out of us you traitor!" Rebastian Lestrange shouted from his confinement.

"Yeah?" Regulus shouted back, "Then you can stay there and suffer. It doesn't matter to us how much you are tortured by that mad man you call a Lord."

"I think we should take them and interrogate them one at a time to see what we can find out." Salazar said, knowing the prisoners could hear what they were saying now that the screaming had stopped.

One by one they removed the men from their trunks. Under interrogation with veritaserum, out of the twenty four men, three admitted that they never wanted to follow the demonic devil in the first place. They had been forced to take the mark by their fathers.

Four admitted that they were forced to take the mark because their families were either being watched or under house arrest, by other followers. Forcible recruitment, Regulus called it. These people were desperately worried about their loved ones and Salazar dispatched a note to Gorbink to locate them and remove them from harm. Out of the seventeen left two said they had wanted to join the Dark Lord for the blood purity, but had already been rethinking even before reading the book and understanding that what they were doing would not help. They just didn't know who to contact for the new strategy.

That left fifteen that would remain true to the mad man. Salazar shook his head. He would never understand why these people wanted to suffer at the hands of an idiot. The prisoners were redistributed to separate the ones that wanted to leave the Dark Lord's side. About two hours later, Salazar received a communication parchment that said all the families were safe. They also received a trunk with seven more Death Eaters.

"Looks like Gorbink and his tribe were having fun." The older wizard said humorously, before he and the others started the interrogations all over again, with the new prisoners. Salazar hadn't even thought of the possibility of having more captured followers from this. "Voldemort must be having a really bad day." He laughed. These prisoners were not very cooperative so he left them in the same trunk after healing their wounds, at least they were mostly superficial. Yes, the goblins were a bloodthirsty lot and it was not a good idea to be on their bad side.

He was not inclined to give the prisoners any pain potion, however, knowing they would suffer more if their leader ever caught them after they failed him.

Regulus, Moony and Snape busied themselves with warding a section of the living quarters so the nine men that had wanted to get away from Voldemort could stay a little more comfortably. Salazar was busy removing the dark marks. They were not going to give the men their freedom yet, but would let them have their own rooms and more reading material. When Reg, Moony and Snape walked into the living area, they were shocked to see portraits of the founders there.

They soon found out these were not the same portraits that they had trained with, these were the portraits that were left for Remus Sr. from the other time line. Salazar hadn't found a way to move them to another time, but this place was between time lines and they could be moved here and retain their animation. The men smiled as they could imagine the berating the nine prisoners were going to get for following a mad man in the first place. Rowena could do a good lecture, citing chapter and paragraph of various rules and regulations of the Wizengamot.

As the four men prepared to leave, Salazar told the prisoners he would be back in a week to send them back to their families. He just didn't tell them that when he did, he would be sending them three months into the future so they would be presumed dead to the followers of Voldemort. One could not be found by Death Eaters if one was not there.

At a castle in Scottland…

A rat was waiting at the base of the gargoyle that guarded the headmaster's office. He was waiting for someone to come and visit the headmaster so he could slip in and find out what was going on. If anyone had attacked the strike team that was sent out yesterday by Voldemort, it had to be the headmaster and his Order of the Phoenix. Who else would have the manpower and resources to do that?

After sitting there for about fifteen minutes, someone finally came and issued the password to the ugly stone gargoyle. The rat animagus slipped inside as the stairs moved up to the office he wanted to stake out.

"…mean you are bringing those squibs to live in the magical world? They can't live here; they will never be accepted and will have a hard time surviving in this world!" Dumbledore was saying in a slightly raised voice. The rat climbed up a shelf so it could peek out and better see what was going on. There was one of the Order members having a discussion with the old coot.

"You don't understand. The children said that they were attacked by Death Eaters and that a group of people came to rescue them. I will not take the chance that my brother or sister might come to harm. They need to be protected and I can protect them better at home. It is enough that our parents are dead."

"They will be fine with their muggle aunt." Dumbledore insisted. "You said a group of people came to help them. Do we know who it is?" The rat watched as the headmaster motioned for McGonagall to sit while he finished his conversation with the Order member.

"I thought it might be some people you sent. Didn't you?" the young woman asked.

"Of course dear, we want to keep these things unmentioned." The gleam in the headmaster's eyes would have given him away if any one had noticed. Yes, he thought, I will take credit for this and others will be more ready to follow me.

"Thank you Professor Dumbledore" the young woman said. She was grateful for the help the man had given her, but she knew she was moving her family back into the magical community. No matter what the old coot said.

The next day…

Just as they had arranged, Rita Skeeter delayed the story so they could see what Dumbledore and Voldemort were going to do. But now was the big day of the unveiling of the attack at Rassendorf.

**ATTACK AT RASSENDORF**

**DEATH EATERS DEFEATED BEFORE ATTACK BEGINS**

In a display of uncommon unity, a group of several different magical races attacked Death Eaters on their way to decimating the small village of Rassendorf. Wanting to remain anonymous they simply said "We are leveling the playing field". This reporter saw first hand….

The four adults that sat around the Prince dining room table looked at the 'Daily Prophet' headlines with mild humor.

"I wonder what Dumbledore is going to say about this?" Harry speculated quietly. His husband looked at him with amusement and suggested they go look at the mirrors that he and Salazar brought back from Hogwarts. So far they hadn't used them much as their attention was distracted with other matters.

"Off to the viewing room then?" said Salazar with a smirk as he used his napkin after he was finished his breakfast and stood up. He held out his hand to Becca, who took it and allowed him to help her from her chair. She just loved his 'old world charm' gestures sometimes. Harry and Severus followed them into the viewing room they had set up for just such an occasion.

It was quite amusing to watch the headmaster fuming at not knowing what was going on. They watched as he flooed one person after the other looking for information; only slightly distracted at the thought that he really needed a mini floo when they saw his difficulty at getting off the floor. Finally they saw Rita enter his office through the floo. They listened intently.

"I will not reveal my sources even if I could, Headmaster." The woman told him. "I have given an oath and even then, they didn't tell me who they really were. They wore masks and odd clothes. So, although we were introduced of sorts by another party, the people that prevented the attack were not introduced by name." She ended her statement with an air of superiority.

"You wrote about people you don't even know? How did you get your information?" the old man asked suspiciously.

"I was there" the reporter said simply. Ending the conversation with a "Good day, Headmaster" and leaving by the same floo she had entered from. The Headmaster sat in his chair with a pensive look on his face. He decided to write to the 'Daily Prophet' and try to undermine this subversive group that was taking away his glory.

_To the Editor of The Daily Prophet, _

_{It has come to my attention that there is a group of vigilantes that have entered our war with You-Know-Who, and we must pause to take a step back and wonder at their motives. If this group is on the side of the light, why have they not aligned with the light? I have to object to the glorification of their actions when we do not know the reason behind them. Is it to give the magical community a hope that will only be refuted in the end?}_

Albus Dumbledore continued in this same vein for several more paragraphs before signing his name and many titles to the parchment.

Severus scoffed when the headmaster called an owl to take the parchment to the newspaper. He wondered how much damage could be done with such a letter but knew they would do nothing about damage control for now. The 'Daily Prophet' would print anything that would sell more newspapers. Of course that was what kept them in business and as long as Rita kept her promise, and he had no reason to think she wouldn't, he would not object to other articles that they may feel the need to publish. This part of the war was not with Dumbledore. They had decided to focus on one enemy at a time and right now that was Voldemort.

Their conversation was interrupted by Cook Tippy that popped into the room.

"Masters Prince, sirs, you must come back to the dining room. Cook Tippy saw several 'Daily Prophet' papers on the table, all with different headlines. She was cleaning up breakfast and setting up for lunch when papers appeared on the table.

They hurriedly returned to the dining room to see six different newspapers on the table, all of them with a portkey and time turner attached and all about attacks within the next week.

Harry looked at the table and said wearily, "And so it begins."


	83. Fighting a War

Posted: 07 March 2010

Chapter 83 Fighting a War

The next day found Harry and all the others in the 'war council' planning again. This time they had to split up in teams to cover the many attacks from the Death Eaters. Hopefully they could stave off several if they caught enough of the Voldemort sycophants before the other attacks happened. Every Death Eater they caught meant that was one less Death Eater that could be sent to the next scheduled attack. It was more imperative than ever that they find out how many followers Voldemort really had.

The problem was no one knew exactly how many Voldemort followers there really were. He never had a meeting with all of them there, or if he did, it was a recruitment meeting and several that were there were not real followers. They knew he had several that did not even have the dark mark, such as Fenrir Greyback and his pack. The one pack of werewolves that they knew hadn't taken the werewolves' cure or joined the werewolf's program for rehabilitation.

The newspapers depicted ten different attacks in six days, but the 'war council' knew there may have been more. Four of the attacks in the newspaper were of Order members and they knew they were probably targeted because of the missing Death Eaters. It was time to make a statement.

It was also time to go after the remaining horcrux that was still in the old Gaunt shack. Salazar, Severus and Harry were going to go after the remaining horcrux except Nagini. She was the only one that was not hidden and remained by Voldemort's side. In order to not alert him that someone had found them, she would have to wait until the last possible minute.

They left that very afternoon to destroy the ring. It was easy to get into the shack. The wards were very weak as if they hadn't been maintained in a while. It was almost as if Voldemort had put the ring there as a teenager and, erected some half-way wards and left to forget about the place. They destroyed the ring and put it back in case someone came to look for it. The only difference was it didn't have the soul fragment in it. Not a very exciting mission, but a very successful one.

When they got back to the manor, five more papers rested on the table. Harry was beginning to hate the dining room, The Daily Prophet and Voldemort all at the same time. At least the papers were dated two to three weeks in advance so they had time to prepare.

They were getting closer to the time that Voldemort would increase his attacks. In all the time lines, he started attacking in earnest about four or five months prior to the date he killed the Potters. Harry and Severus had been hoping to catch enough of the mad man's followers to stop, or at least slow down, his violence. But now it seemed as if he was just getting started earlier. Severus assured Harry that since most of the aggressions so far had been small and it was in accordance with the other time lines.

Their collection of Death Eaters was slowly rising. Every time they stopped whatever mission Voldemort sent them on another two or three were added to the list. They were now up to forty-five. Some of them had ended up dead in the crossfire, but most of them they were able to catch with only minor injuries.

It was interesting to watch during the interrogations. The Death Eaters were suspicious of being treated well during their stay. They were fed and given medical treatment for injuries, even the ones that they created. One day a fight broke out in the truck with Rabastian Lestrange and they fixed two broken noses and a broken arm before separating the three injured into a separate trunk. Needless to say, after that, they didn't want to be Death Eaters anymore.

One day when Doc was inside one of the prison trunks, the inmates decided to try to escape. They held the healer prisoner while stealing his wand and demanded to be let out of the "whatever it is that has confined us". Doc laughed at him.

"Do you honestly believe that we are not prepared for something like this? The only thing that will happen is you will no longer get medical care for your stupidity." Doc said while sitting in a chair with a wand pointing at him. He didn't look scared or frightened either and the men wondered why.

"Stupify," the Death Eater said while pointing the wand at Doc's face. Nothing happened. "Reducto," again nothing happened. "Sectemsempra," still nothing happened.

Doc got up out of his chair and grabbed his wand back. "You men are even more foolish that I took you for and that is saying something." He walked to the middle of the room and looked around.

"Your magic is neutralized in this container, but you also have had to suffer several summonses on a daily basis from you Master. Your magic is being depleted and that is why you have been getting sick. It's all tied in with the dark mark. No one in these containers with a dark mark can use any magic. It's time for you to grow up boys and face reality." After saying that and seeing their expressions of perplexion and in some cases horror, Doc raised his wand and said "Exedos" and left the confinement box.

Two of the men in confinement decided to have the mark removed when they realized the torture from their Master would never end. They had read the books available in their living quarters and some of the other books backing up what the first book said. Whether it was conditional training or not, they didn't know, nor did they care, they just wanted out. The whole idea of living the rest of their lives like this or worse, in Azkaban or just dying a painful death when their Master did, just was not appealing.

It was in the other confinement area that their retraining began. The founders' portraits were the wardens and the elves the guards. They were all given the same speech when coming into the neutral confinement area.

"Gentlemen, you have been given another chance at life." Regulus was lecturing one day to some newly 'freed' Death Eaters. "No longer will you fight and kill for a cause that can be handled in peace." Regulus looked around to make sure everyone was paying attention.

"These rooms are to keep you safe, so please don't try to leave. It is imperative that Voldemort" he watched every cringe, "does not find you or see you. If he does, I don't think I have to say what will happen."

He paused to allow the murmuring among the men to die down. "It is the hope of our group to return to the true pureblood ways, not the thieving and killing of muggles and muggle raised for the sport of it. I really fail to understand why you think that kind of behavior dignified."

Regulus noticed some of the men sporting bright red cheeks in shame when put that way.

"The house elves are here for your comfort. You will address them appropriately and they do have the right and command to punish any rude or hostile behavior. We don't care if you get the hard rough towels or the soft ones, nor if you eat mush or fancy dinners all the time. The nicer you are to the elves the better you will be treated. Remember they are not your elves so you will have to ask politely for what you need."

He watched the shocked looks on their faces, but everyone nodded in assent of understanding what he said.

"There will be two phoenixes arriving here shortly and I would hope that you treat their home well." Regulus knew Silver and Black were due to arrive in just a few days now, although they didn't know the exact day or time.

Regulus was starting to walk out the door and reset the wards to keep the men in when he turned around again to add one more thing, "The portraits are of the founders of Hogwarts. If I were you, I would start studying for your new place in society. Death Eater extraordinaire just isn't going to cut it anymore."

In a manor at an undisclosed location…

Voldemort was tired of Bella complaining. He had been using her mark to summon the missing followers for weeks now, but to no avail. She sat on the floor at his feet whimpering in pain.

"Bella, stop that sniveling, you should be happy to suffer for your Lord and Master."

"Yes, My Lord." She replied weakly. She was happy to suffer, but it seemed like she was the only one suffering and she felt like she was weak. If she could just sleep for a few hours she would be much stronger.

The woman's husband had just entered the room. "Rodolphus Lestrange, you will cancel any more attacks as of right this minute. Until I can establish the reason for these disappearances, I do not want to lose any more followers. We will have a council meeting this evening. Find out why Lucius Malfoy has not been honoring my summons and see if you can find that Severus Snape person as well. We need answers and my undercover spies had better have some.

Rodolphus floo-called to Malfoy Manor only to be greeted by an elf and told he would deliver the message. He couldn't even get into the house by floo and wondered why all the extra protection even from family. Narcissa Malfoy was after all his sister-in-law as Belletrix's sister.

Truth be told, the Malfoy home was not warded against family, it was only warded against the dark mark, but Lestrange didn't know that Lucius and Narcissa no longer had their marks. The elf contacted his master immediately and after a discussion with Narcissa, Lucius decided to come home and help the Prince organization as best he could. They knew it would be a risk, but the alternative would be worse. There was nothing from keeping that mad man from trying to locate the Malfoy family in France and they wanted to avoid that at all costs.

It was close to June first when Silver and Black were expected to show. Salazar and Becca took the children to Between Manor to stay a few days and greet them. She was very careful to stay in the family quarters away from the others to keep the children safe. Harry and Severus were not happy about it at first, but knew she could portkey down in an instant if there was any kind of trouble.

As for Salazar, although he had asked Harry and Severus for Becca's hand in marriage, he felt he should meet her real Grandfathers and ask them also. The attacks had stopped for now, but they knew they were going to get worse later on and wanted the men to be prepared.

Now for the show at the undisclosed location…

On the pretext of anti apparation wards where Snape was, Malfoy retrieved a portkey from Rodolphus to set up a meeting with Voldemort. It had been decided that with his ever growing family, (Narcissa was pregnant again) it would not be a good idea for him to go. Harry wanted to use polyjuice and go in his place, but Severus reminded him, he could not pull of 'snarky' enough to fake the Malfoy charisma. It was decided Severus and Snape would go with Severus polyjuiced as Malfoy. This way he could flash them out of there if needed.

They portkeyed at the appropriate time and Harry was left sitting there with Malfoy, Moony and Regulus. They were all very worried about the two men for one reason or another.

When they arrived, they were greeted by several Death Eaters at wand point. It was a sign that there was much suspicion even amongst the followers. Severus smirked the Malfoy smirk well, and drawled in that aristocratic tone, "Gentlemen, I do believe that five wands is a bit of overkill. Let's put away our toys and get on with this, the Dark Lord is waiting."

"Oh, that is Lucius. But what about the other one?" one of the masked men said.

"I can vouch for him," Malfoy chimed in.

"Not good enough Malfoy, we have to know from his own lips," another masked Death Eater said.

Snape of course was not playing a part, he was the real thing. So with his face firmly set in his customary glare he said, "And exactly what tricks would you like me to perform for you, to prove who I am?"

"Eh, tell us something only Snape would know" said one not too bright kid that Snape actually remembered from Hogwarts. The kid was at least a year or two younger than him, Snape recollected.

"If I tell you something only Snape would know, then how are you going to know I told the truth?" Snape snarled back at the idiot boy. Dunderheads, all of them.

"We are wasting time here." Malfoy said. "Go and get my sister-in-law and she will be better able to handle this."

"She is with the Dark Lord and cannot be disturbed."

"Isn't that where we are headed now?" Malfoy answered back. "Oh, never mind that, we are going to be late for our meeting." The young Lord stalked off in the direction of the throne room to meet his enemy. It was a good thing he knew where it was from the previous time line.

When they entered the throne room, the first thing he saw was Bella lying on the floor. The expression of agony on her face told the tale of her being used over and over again to summon those that were not going to answer. The next thing he saw was Voldemort on the throne chair waiting for their entrance. Both men immediately came before and kneeled as was the standard practice.

"It has been a long time Lucius; I do hope you have some information for me as my patience is growing very thin." The red eyes in the man's face were snapping with anger and impatience and Severus knew he needed to play his part well.

"Yes, My Lord, I do." The Malfoy face answered. It was strange hearing Malfoy's voice come out of his mouth, but he didn't let on.

"Rise, Lucius, and tell me why has it taken you so long to get back here?" the mad man asked.

"My Lord," the man said as he started to stand up straight. "I have been taking care of family business in France. My aunt is very old and about to die and needed me to help her with her personal and family business."

"Why is your aunt more important than me?" Voldemort asked.

"I am sorry, My Lord, I do not explain myself well. My aunt holds a massive estate and wine vineyards and although I am her favorite, another cousin could have come in and claimed them if he had been called to help. I believe that this location would be perfect for an attempt to take over France once Britain is done. I also believe that the over two hundred million galleons that come with the estate can help fund our organization quite nicely."

"And, did you not think, I should have been notified that this is why you were gone?" Voldemort asked in a dangerous tone.

"When I was called to her bedside, I did not know the extent of the estate. It was one inherited by her husband but they remained childless. Once I was there I started formulating the plan to help her make up her mind in who to bequeath her estate to. That is why Narcissa is still there with our son. So they can appease the old woman with the people around her."

"Snape, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"There have been some strange things heard around the company. Prince Conglomerate maintains a neutral position in the war, but it is rumored that Dumbledore has tried to convince them that they need to join his side. He has also sabotaged several of their products to make their company look bad in retaliation of not joining his Order of the Phoenix. They will not budge on their own issues of neutrality, but they do keep tabs on him. Yesterday I overheard a conversation about him hiring mercenaries to attack muggles and blame it on you."

"Do you know anything else about my missing followers?"

"I am sorry my Lord, I didn't know that any were missing." Snape answered back. "I would imagine these mercenaries could have them imprisoned some where. If you would like, I will see what else they know about the order."

Switching his interrogation to the other, he said, "One last thing Malfoy, did Narcissa tell you anything about a prophecy? About a child born in July?" Voldemort watched carefully at the blond before him.

"I didn't know anything about a prophecy, and if Narcissa was told not to say anything, she would keep your secrets. Would you like me to find out who the child is?" Malfoy asked carefully.

"I only want to know what children were born at the end of July. No one seems to be able to get this information for me. You will get it and bring it back to me immediately or suffer the consequences." The man's rage was spiking again and his wand hand was twitching.

"Certainly My Lord. May I have permission to call an elf from my house?" Voldemort raised his eyebrows for a minute before nodding his head.

"Dobby!"

"Yes, Master Malfoy, What can Dobby be doing for you today?" it was Sentry Dobby that came into the room but the others didn't know that.

"Give me parchment and quill." Said the elf's master in a gruff tone. Inside Severus cringed a little at having to treat the small being so roughly, but he let nothing of this show on his face.

After writing a quick note he handed it to the elf and said, "You will take this to the Director of St Mungo's and tell him I want a list of every child born in May, June and July. It will be Draco's first birthday and we want to invite as many of his future classmates as possible. It will allow us to get to know the families before they start Hogwarts. Tell him to check the registry of those born at home with midwives as well."

"Very good sir." And the elf popped off.

Of course this had all been prearranged but Voldemort didn't know that. Bella looked at her brother-in-law with some distain. Did he really think that he was going to do in an hour what she had not been able to accomplish in a month? Those records were sealed and private. No one would get them, even for Lucius Malfoy.

"Shall we have tea while we wait?" Lucius Malfoy asked.

Voldemort didn't question the actions of the follower before him. Something was different about the Malfoy Lord, but he couldn't place what the difference was and was inclined to put it off as not having seen the man for a few months.

About half an hour later 'Dobby' popped back into the throne room and handed his master a scroll of parchment. Then he popped back out and back to Prince Manor knowing not to even wait for a reply. His orders were to bring the information and get out before being attacked by Nagini.

Lucius Malfoy opened the scroll and noticed that all the children's names were there as well as their birthdates after the names. There were three sheets of parchment filled with names. He sighed in relief. It had taken Doc and Becca days to perfect this list but no one had to know that either.

He handed the list to Voldemort and watched his expression. The rage subsided as triumph now over shadowed his face. "I see I have been relying on the wrong people." He said as he glanced in Bella's direction as she whimpered. "Next time I need something, I will call on you sooner." He said in distraction as his eyes feasted on the information in front of him.

"How soon will it be before you are back in the country, Lucius? I do realize that settling an estate of those magnanimous proportions can be quite exhausting and time consuming but I need you here to help with the war effort."

"I would say that I will need to reside in France until the end of the year. I do not believe my aunt will hold on much longer; but since she has been sick for some time there, have been things that have fallen out of order and repairs on the property that need attending. We are also overseeing the construction of a small cottage for guests to stay. I am anticipating everything being completed for Christmas holidays. I will stay in touch more now that I know you have needed my help as well."

"Do you come back into the country often to attend your own business?" Voldemort asked.

"I have on a few occasions. Just long enough to settle things and return straight back to France. Now though, there should be more free time since a major portion of the work in planning and designing changes are completed. I don't need to be there all the time to watch workers build something, just to inspect that they are following the plans correctly and to take care of necessary changes."

"Good. Keep in touch and we hope to see you back at our side after the holidays. This is a crucial time in the war and we need the inner circle here." Voldemort turned to Snape, whom he had completely ignored up to this point. "Snape, you will be given a portkey to get you through the anti-apparation wards so you may attend meetings."

"Oh, and Lucius, can you tell me why the Director of St. Mungo's let you have this list so quickly?" Voldemort said suspiciously.

"Certainly, I arranged for my aunt's estate to donate five hundred thousand galleons to the research of magical maladies for children." He informed the psychopath.

"You are dismissed." Voldemort said with a sly smile on his face. He had been inclined to curse the two men at least once for their absence, but the information they provided today was quite useful. The Malfoys new millions would be the crowning glory of his organization. Oh, yes, he knew Malfoy was probably getting even more, but with those kinds of funds at his disposal, he was willing to overlook it.

Severus, as Lucius Malfoy, had one more request of the man; just one more thing he could set up for the future. "My Lord, there is a nest of small basilisk snakes on the property as protection. I would like to request permission to make you a present, of one of them, as company for Nagini. It could be arranged as soon as they are able to travel safely."

"Basilisks, you say? How did they come to be there?"

"I believe, My Lord, one of my uncle's relatives brought it as an egg, not knowing what it was. It would be dangerous for you to travel to speak with them. Also, the estate is under the Fidelius Charm, and I am not yet the secret keeper. However, one of the snakes could be brought here on my next trip if you would like."

"Yes, I believe that would be most acceptable. Thank you, Lucius"

Severus and Snape couldn't get out of there fast enough.


	84. Family Birthdays

Posted: 10 March 2010

Chapter 84 Family Birthdays

The tall dark haired man stood in the doorway watching a seventeen year old boy with two children in his arms. The dark haired baby boy in his right arm was dressed in an all in one the color of royal blue, and had gold caldrons swirling around in silent animation. The little girl was dressed the same in a soft royal purple of silk with little crowns and scepters denoting her as a little princess. He knew his children would have a much different childhood than their parents, but he also knew that as they grew older, he would not be able to protect them from heartbreak. He resolved he was going to give it a bloody good try.

The man holding the babies was a teenager, but had lived through so much. Right now he was reading out loud from a journal given to him by a mother he would never know. He was reading the children to sleep.

"_July 31, 1980 - I cannot express the feelings that filled my heart when you were placed in my arms for the very first time. You were a little wrinkly and had just a tuft of black hair on your head, and I knew that you were not blessed with my hair but cursed with your father's wild bird's nest. All I can tell you, son, is to grow it long and find a good hairdresser. _

_You wrapped your little fingers around my pinky and held on tight with all your strength. I can only say that meeting you for the first time, was the most wonderful experience I have ever had. You could never understand until you have children of your own, but believe me, darling, it is worth all the pain to receive the joy..."_

Harry's voice continued on, in some places you could tell he was choked up with the emotions it created. The babies were sleeping now and he didn't even think the young teen knew, so wrapped up was he in the book he was reading.

The tall dark man moved silently into the room and drew nearer to the younger with his two children. The teenager, unaware of the other adult continued to read to the sleeping infants. Just as the older man got close enough to touch the teen from behind, the book was dropped and as he looked to the occupants in the oversized rocking chair he knew that all three had fallen asleep. A warm smile graced the face of the older and almost turned into a chuckle as he watched his family sleeping together. He snapped a picture with a magical camera and placed it back in his pocket. One of the children moved around to snuggle closer into the chest beneath him and a soft coo seemed to come from the little puckered mouth.

Very carefully he picked up the little girl and laid her down to sleep in the crib. She was getting heavier and bigger every day he thought as he smoothed out her hair with a gentle hand. He then lifted the young boy and laid him in the second crib in the room. He gazed over them fondly as two snakes slithered into the cribs to keep their masters safe.

Soon it would be the little boy's first birthday and a big celebration was in the planning stages by all the adults and elves that were entrusted with the children's care. He knew next year, there would be another to celebrate birthdays with and he paused to briefly mourn the loss of a dear friend.

Looking at the teen still sitting, in the chair that was spelled to gently rock back and forth, he allowed his heart to swell with the love he had for his soulmate. It was indescribable to him how he went from abused, and yes in some cases abusive, to having a loving husband and two children. He would do anything to protect them.

He placed the monitoring spells on the room and slowly got a grip on the teen, then lifted him into his arms. Harry was still lighter than he should be, but he had a good healthy look of one that was well cared for. Those Dursley people had never been able to break his spirit and now he was as whole as anyone else.

A murmur was heard coming from the teen, but he unconsciously wrapped his arms around the older man's neck and settled more firmly into his grip. As he was laid down on the bed, after a wave of the man's hand had pulled back the covers, a soft spoken "Sev" was sighed from the slightly parted lips. Another wave of the older man's hand and the teen was clothed in his night wear and covered in the downy comforter. About ten minutes later he joined the younger man for the night, smiling as the smaller frame curled into his, and rested an arm across his chest. Not for the first time did Severus Prince breath a prayer of thanks for his new and growing family as he drifted in a peaceful sleep.

The morning of July 31, 1981...

Prince Manor was a whirlwind of activity. For security reasons no one, but the closest of friends, were invited. But the number was not a small one. There were a host of people that had already sent presents that were secured in one of the reception rooms to be checked for anything untoward that could hurt the children or even take them by portkey to somewhere else. Even the ministers from some of the other countries had sent a small gift. The strangest present he received was a small acromantula spider. Aragog sent it for the child's protection as a gift.

Evan of course could sense the excitement of all the adults around him, but he didn't have a clue to what was going on. The pool room was again set up in a decorative atmosphere, but this time with a small merry-go-round with six hippogriffs and some other small children's rides. It was a good thing they could shrink them and resize them later. A small unicorn was portkeyed in so the children could also have pony rides.

The Malfoys had come as well as Sensei and all the original people from Becca's time line. Regulus, Moony and the Lupins were there as well as Snape and some of the war counsel. The children were definitely out numbered by the adults at least three to one. It was a real treat for everyone to just relax and visit as opposed to planning missions and worrying about what Voldemort was going to do next. Things had been relatively quiet for now, but they knew that would not last too long.

Becca watched on as Harry and Severus got on the small rides with the children. Holding them in place and generally enjoying the time as a family. Narcissa, who was now three months pregnant for her fourth child, was sitting next to Becca as she said, "I'm not sure who is having more fun, the kids or the adults." They both laughed as they watched Severus talk Lucius into getting on the ride with one of the twins while the Nanny Elf had the other one. Tonks had volunteered to take Draco as Remus Sr. was holding onto Teddy.

Everyone looked and laughed when Severus picked up Lillian and growled into her stomach as she squealed in giggles and said "Da". It was her first word. Evan had said it a few weeks ago, so they had expected her to follow. Harry smiled and thought he had never seen Severus so carefree and happy. The children were really changing him more and more each day. Only occasionally would he see a shadow of the old Professor Snape that greeted him in his first year.

It had been nearly two years, actually one year eight months, since they had come to this time line. Harry had never been a part of such an extravagant party. Actually, he couldn't remember, ever, being a part of a child's birthday party, except to help set up Dudley's a few times. He questioned briefly if this would have been a party his parents would have given him had they lived. He shook his head to clear his mind of such maudlin thoughts and focused back to Severus and their daughter. Evan was riding the unicorn with Teddy and they were trying to make it "giyiup" as Teddy was saying. The unicorn was one of the young ones from the two adult unicorns that participated in the wedding.

An alarm went off and Becca got up from her seat. "That will be our surprise guests; I will see to them and be right back." Harry looked at Severus with a puzzled expression on his face and Severus shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'I don't know'. Everyone they had invited was there and they were not expecting anyone else.

As Becca made her way up to the receiving room on the upper floor, her heart was pounding in her chest and her hands were sweating. She knew she should not be nervous, but it had been weeks since she had seen the two guests that were waiting for someone greet them. Salazar had followed her and whispered in her ear, "They love you, why are you nervous?"

"I have made so many mistakes. This was not the original plan and I wonder if they will be upset with me for changing things. They didn't know all the changes when we met before, but now that they have had time to think about it… I'm just worried." Becca said nervously.

"Everything will be fine." Salazar said as the lift door opened and they stepped out.

"Grandfather!" cried Becca as she ran to them. She had wanted to see them before now, but other than that one visit, hadn't had the chance to go when Voldemort had been so active. She felt their arms close around her and hold her close. She knew that, no matter what, she was loved by these two men.

"Spitfire!" Silver said "It is good to see you"

"Nice place you have here." said Black.

They talked for about fifteen minutes before Salazar interrupted them, "I hate to disturb you, but there is a party downstairs and a certain couple may be wondering where you are and if you were kidnapped." he said with a smile.

"Do they know we're coming?" Black asked.

Becca shook her head 'no' and pulled them toward the lift.

When the four adults stepped out, Harry and Severus, each with a child in their arms, looked toward the lift entrance to see who had come to join the party.

They were stunned. Standing next to Becca and Salazar were their carbon copies only older. Snape who was sitting and talking to Lucius had an odd feeling of déjà vu with seeing yet another older version of himself, and couldn't help but wonder what power he hadn't tapped into yet that these men obviously had.

There was a shock throughout the room as introductions were made. When they got to the table where the Malfoys were sitting, Lucius was the one who asked, "Why Silver and Black?" It was the only name everyone had been told to use. The two men stared at each other before separating from the table, and in a flash, flying through the air, were the most magnificent phoenixes that anyone had ever seen.

They flew around the room, which got the children's attention and came to a stop in their original places, changing back as if they had choreographed it to happen at the same exact moment.

They had a good visit; including giving the children rides in their phoenix forms. That is Silver gave the rides while Black put the sticking charm on the kids and showed them how to hold on around the neck and leave the wings free to fly. When Harry protested about the kids being too heavy, Black reminded him about a phoenix being able to carry 'immensely heavy loads'.

The children all had an early night of it. The Malfoys were staying in guest quarters so they could visit with the adults. It was at dinner after the children were put to bed that they were able to speak freely about the war effort.

Snape had been listening quietly as he sat next to Moony and asked, "So I am assuming that you are married and even though you were introduced as Silver and Black because of your animagus forms, you are also named Harry and Severus." The older men nodded. "Then am I also meant to marry the same Harry counterpart in this world?" He was worried, he and Moony had gotten to be quite close and he couldn't imagine having to marry someone he didn't even know.

"Bond with, not necessarily marry." The oldest man said. "In each time line the power of light and the power of dark are meant to bond to protect the world. This is what each of us has done."

"I don't understand." Severus replied

"There are many different types of bonds. You may bond as a husband, but you may also bond as a friend, business partner or as a father or godfather figure. Don't limit yourself to what has gone on before. As Time Spirits, we are commissioned by fate and time to change things in a certain way. We are given permission to help mankind correct mistakes that could be detrimental for the existence of the world. There are things we can do to effect change and there are those we are forbidden to change. But always one change can affect something else, like little ripples in a lake when a rock is thrown into it."

"How do I know what is right for me?" the youngest Severus Snape at the table asked.

"Only you can decide what is best for you. We have made our choices but they don't have to be your choices. We have changed things so that you have more to chose from. Just because Silver and I are soulmates and Harry and Severus are also, does not mean you have to find another Harry. Most soulmates are born that way but our soulmate bond was forged* a different way. We were raised in a very similar manner and therefore became soulmates by our experiences. In some ways, it was better like that, but I would not wish our childhoods on anyone. Do you understand?"

Snape nodded his head and said, "Your bond was created by your mutual suffering, survival and sacrifices, not necessarily because fate chose you beforehand."

The black phoenix animagus nodded as he saw the understanding in the young man's eyes.

It was Severus that brought up a question they had all been wondering. "How long will you be able to stay with us?"

Silver answered, "Until everything is settled, or we are told to be elsewhere. We would like to be here to help you with your current situation and also for Becca's wedding. That is something we don't want to miss. We will live at Between Manor though and coordinate things from there. You currently have over fifty incarcerated Death Eaters and we can keep watch over them so your attention need not be divided. We know that Voldemort has been quiet for a little while, but it will not stay that way. Based on the other time lines, things are going to heat up soon."

"Do you know when the attacks will start…" Harry started to say but, in the middle of his sentence, he was interrupted with plop, plop, plopplop. The last two papers dropped almost simultaneously. There, in the center of the table, were several Daily Prophet newspapers about Death Eater attacks in the next two weeks.

Silver and Black looked over at the headlines on the papers and the dates. "Nice little trick you've got going there; untraceable time turners and portkeys. Who thought of that one?"

"Gorbink" responded several of the people in the room at once.

"It's a good thing he's on our side." Silver observed with a small laugh.

"Well, gentlemen," Silver stated as he rose out of the chair, "we need to be leaving; it is way past our bedtime." It was only one in the morning. "Just send us the prisoners and we will interrogate them and separate the ones that can be purged of the dark mark."

"My love, are you ready?" Silver asked his husband of over one hundred years. He offered his hand to help the man out of the chair.

The man accepted the help even as he looked at everyone around the table. "We will be in touch and will come to visit when we can." He then looked at his husband and said "Yes, we should be getting to bed."

Becca got up from her chair to get a hug from them before they left and then they spoke in unison when they said, "Goodnight everyone." With a silver and black flash of fire they were gone.

That same day at the Potter household…

"James Potter! I can't believe you bought a broom for our one year old child." Lily was livid. Even the toy store said it was for children three and older. She was imagining all kinds of horrible things happening to her son on the confounded thing.

"It will be alright, Lils. Look he is a natural on it, and he likes it." James pleaded with his wife. He knew she wasn't going to be happy about this, but when he had taken his son to the toy store, he knew it was just the thing for him. The look on Harry's face when the broom was flying around with him on it was worth all the trouble. His face was euphoric at being above the ground, even if it was only fifteen centimeters.

As he and Lily were arguing about the broom. The baby's godfather Sirius Black was following the infant around, wand at the ready, to make sure he didn't get hurt. Sirius had already cast several cushioning charms on the low table in front of the sofa. Not only did he not want to see the baby hurt, he also didn't want to have to deal with Lily if the child did have an accident.

Moony had come in earlier and dropped off a present for the little one. It was a magical Hogwarts Express engine car that would go 'Choo Choo' and blow smoke and was big enough for Harry to ride. It had a safety strap that automatically clicked on the child when seated and a sensing spell that prevented it from running into anything. It would turn around and go back the way it came when it got ten centimeters from an object.

Moony had said something about his boss' son also having a birthday today and a party later that he was required to attend. Sirius was still doubtful about those Prince people that he worked for, but he was willing to give the man credit for doing something with his life. When they were in school, Moony had always been worried about finding work because he knew that being a werewolf would greatly limit his opportunities.

Peter had also come earlier that day. He had brought a little stuffed animal for the child and stayed and spoke with Lily, James and Sirius. Peter, however, didn't stay long as children were obviously not something he could relate to.

Three days later…

Marlene McKenna's family was sitting at the dinner table when Regulus Black came knocking on her door. She had not expected to see him as he had left Hogwarts before finishing school. They were told he had gone to another school for 'special training' She had assumed that meant he had joined the Death Eaters as many of the Slytherin families had.

About fifteen minutes later they were attacked by four Death Eaters. Voldemort had decided to start attacking known members of Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix to find out more about the prophecy. Marlene was badly hurt, as was one of her two younger brothers. The family of five was very confused when they were portkeyed for medical treatment along with a trunk. Not to St. Mungo's, as they would have surmised, but to two older gentlemen in a place they had never seen. The black phoenix animagus recognized the wounds of the Sectumsempra spell and immediately called over his mate for help.

"This will be much easier if you transform and cry on the wound." His mate nodded and a silver phoenix appeared to place tears along the slash on the woman's arm and stomach. Afterwards she was given a pain reliever and dreamless sleep along with the rest of her family. The important thing was no one was permanently injured nor had they died.

Four days after that it was the Prewett twins…

A week after that it was Edger Bones and his family…

Voldemort still didn't know how his people were disappearing. He only told those going on the missions, at the very last minute. He also didn't tell anyone who they were attacking or when.

A/N Because I know that some of my readers use English as a second language, I wanted to explain the word forged in the conversation with Silver and Black. *Description of forge - American Heritage® Dictionary To give form or shape to, especially by means of careful effort: _forge a treaty; forge a close relationship._Thank you to all who have reviewed. I had one reader ask if they could put me on their recommended reading list and I wholeheartedly say YES! It warms my heart to know that people like to read my story. Especially as this is the first one I have ever tried to do. 


	85. You Are So Screwed

Posted 13 March 2010

Chapter 85 You are so Screwed

Over the next two months, the collection of Death Eaters at Between Manor was mounting and Voldemort was having a hard time recruiting more. Severus (polyjuiced as Lucius) had gone to several meetings to learn what was being done on Voldemort's side. A couple of times he silently thanked Becca for the Basilisk skin cloaks. When Voldemort was on the warpath, no one was safe from a stray curse or two. Severus, of course, made a convincing show when getting hit with the curses, and even fell to the ground at the appropriate times. He refused to whimper or scream though; he absolutely was not going to give that mad man the satisfaction, no matter what kind of part he was playing.

On the first of October, he delivered Second Born to the sociopath's headquarters. This was the promised friend for Nagini who had already been turned into a horcrux. Second Born had insisted that since this was to protect his future master, he should be the one to go. Severus felt bad for Voldemort's familiar, but it had to be done. He was to portkey a poisoned rat to Second Born after 'Lucius' was again out of the country. It wouldn't do to have something go wrong with the plan and make the Malfoy's a target of revenge.

He smiled as he was leaving, not having been cursed this time strangely enough, and whispered, "Tom, you are so screwed." It was a line from a muggle movie he and Harry had been watching two days ago. He thought it fit perfectly in Voldemort's case.

At Between Manor...

Silver and Black were resting from having just worked on six people that got caught in a nasty cross fire during an attack of Death Eaters. Although the utilization of The Daily Prophet was very successful, it wasn't the be all and end all of what was going on. Several times they had been bombarded with injured as areas were attacked that the newspaper didn't know about it. They hoped it was not a sign that Voldemort had found out how the group was getting its information. They were watching as many people in the Order of the Phoenix as possible since they seemed to be the focus of the retribution.

Dorcus Meadows and her family and a few neighbors were the last ones to arrive with barely enough time to save them. The elves that knew the most about wizard healing were just as busy as the two men that led them. They finally started putting phoenix tears in the blood replenishers and that helped in the quick healing of the critically injured.

Silver looked at Black as they both collapsed on the bed and said, "I only wish we could save the Potters. It hurts to not be able to do something for them."

"My love, you know the rules. I too would like to save at least Lily, but we have to think about the others. Dorcus was killed in the first war and now she lives. It was the same with Benjy Fenwick that dropped in on us last week. At least we are doing some good for the magical world. These families were wiped out before."

The smaller man rested his head on his husband's chest as they lay down. "I know, but sometimes life really sucks."

The larger man chuckled at the expression and said, "Not all the time I hope." then started sucking on his neck.

"No, not all the time." Silver said with a smile and they were both too busy to talk for the next hour.

Back to the Potters...

It was on October fifth that the Potters and the Longbottoms were told about a prophecy that may involve their sons, and that they were targets for the Death Eaters. At Dumbledore's insistence, they made plans to put their homes under the protection of the Fidelius Charm. It was an anonymous note that had tipped off Dumbledore, or so he said.

Lily begged James to use someone else and not Dumbledore and she admonished Frank and Alice to do the same. They had to be very careful now and she feared for her son's safety. James wasn't sure why his wife was so adamant about this, but it didn't really matter who was the secret keeper as long as it was someone they trusted.

Sirius came over that evening and they had told him that a prophecy had been heard by Voldemort, that targeted little Harry. They hadn't been told the actual prophecy, but had been told some of its contents. The baby was sleeping in his mother's arms as they discussed what could be done. They had only been told that the prophecy stated a child would be born as the seventh month dies that could defeat Voldemort. Then James told him they wanted Sirius to be the secret keeper for their home.

After much discussion and throwing different ideas back and forth, Sirius convinced them that they should let Peter be the secret keeper as no one would suspect him. Everyone would think Sirius would be the most likely person to be trusted by the Potters.

The next day, they performed the Fidelius Charm with Peter Pettigrew as their secret keeper.

Back to a manor in an undisclosed location...

The day after the Potters enacted the charm, Peter stood before his master telling him what happened and the location of the Potter family. Finally, the Dark Lord thought, something was going his way. He knew, if he was persistent enough, he would find a way to win this war. All he had to do was kill the Potter brat and move to Lucius' place in France. The Malfoy Lord had said the place would be ready by Christmas; he would just have to revise his schedule and move faster. All Lucius had to do was spend a little more money for more workers.

In France they could regroup and 'convince' more people to become followers as they puzzled out the reason for the missing Death Eaters. Voldemort personally thought they may all be dead, the fools. No one had found information on where they could be kept and the only place he knew big enough and solid enough to hold that many of his best was Azkaban. He already knew they were not there. He had people on the inside watching out for them. His only consolation was that the Order members they had attempted to murder were gone too. Whatever happened, it took place on both sides.

He wouldn't tell the remaining followers about this news. He had to be careful so none of them disappeared as the others had. He did summon all his remaining people to command them to discontinue the attacks against the Order of the Phoenix. Now that he knew who the brat was, and where the brat was, he didn't want any thing else to happen before the child of that thrice damned prophecy could be eliminated. After that, there was nothing to stop him. He had taken steps to see to his survival and he would live forever.

He also knew the perfect time to attack. All Hallows Eve was the perfect night. When the dark magic was flowing freely and he would be able to use it to help succeed in his mission. He didn't really need much help, Wormtail could accompany him. He didn't explain any of this to his followers, but he spoke in great detail about it to Nagini, so of course Second Born was right there listening to the whole plan.

Second Born, named Croesus (probably because of the wealth of the estate) by Voldemort, sent a telepathic message to First Born to let him know what was going on. Because he was not anyone's actual familiar, he didn't have a connection yet with a human master of his own. Severus was able to come up with a spell to enhance their natural ability to communicate telepathically within their nest mates. First Born then relayed the message to Harry, who relayed it to everyone else.

Back at Prince Manor...

Salazar and Gorbink with a few of the house elves were in deep discussion on the best way to make a believable and live golem of little Harry. It was imperative that the Dursley's think they have a real baby after Dumbledore dropped him off on the doorstep. There was absolutely no way that they were going to leave little Harry in their hands for one minute, so a golem was needed to make a switch for a few days. It was tricky magic and usually they didn't look quite real. They used Harry's blood for the last 'real life' touches. Even though he was older, if scanned he would register as Harry James Potter, born on July 31, 1980. Charms were needed to make the child real and they were actually using a likeness of Evan as he was more readily available. Last minute changes could be made, but Petunia didn't know what Harry looked like anyway.

The monitors to the house of number four Privet Drive were checked and double checked. They had to know if Dumbledore would come and visit and if he recognized the golem for what it was.

The tension was very high in Prince Manor. For no apparent reason Harry or Becca would start tearing and even Severus could be seen with damp eyes from time to time. Salazar was trying to comfort Becca as best he could, but sometimes she would fly into a rage at not being able to do anything about the attack on the Potters. Harry, too, was not in a good mood. He would pace then sit and pace some more. He was not even pretending to focus on anything and would snap if someone tried to ask him what was wrong.

Moony and Regulus knew something was going on that they were not privy to, but could not imagine what could make the usually happy and cordial people of the Prince family behave so out of character. It was too risky for anyone else to know what was going to happen next. They couldn't interfere. Those were the rules. Remus Sr. was another one that was 'out of sorts' and even Tonks knew to stay out of his way. Although she knew what the problem was, and did feel sorrow, she had not known the Potters and for her it was not as personal. She did, however, know Harry and her heart ached for him.

On Thursday, October 29, 1981 a mysterious note appeared on the kitchen table addressed to Becca. When Becca saw that it was in her own handwriting she immediately read it, and then went to look for Salazar and told him they had to hurry. The note's request was urgent.

Salazar looked at his fiancé and said, "You couldn't have given me more warning? We don't have enough time!" He then went to call his team and they went to work fulfilling the request of a future Becca.

On the morning of Saturday, October 31, 1981, Dorcus Meadows arrived at the former Lady Longbottom's residence. The mother of Frank Longbottom knew the young woman as being in the Order of the Phoenix with her son and his wife. She also knew the woman had been missing for the last few weeks.

"I have urgent news about your grandson. Please Mrs. Longbottom, can you get them here or tell me where they are? It's a matter of life or death."

Mrs. Longbottom gave the woman a hard long look and said, "Stay here." She floo-called her son, and the family soon were in the receiving room of her house. Fortunately they had brought little Neville with them. They looked at Dorcus and drew their wands at her.

"How did you come to be here?" Frank nearly shouted in his distress of seeing someone he thought to be dead.

"The phoenix rises out of the ashes." Dorcus said calmly and waited for the appropriate response.

"The ashes of death are eternal." Alice said.

"Not to those that are reborn," was the correct response from the young woman that had intruded into their morning.

"Dorcus," Alice sighed and gave the woman a hug. How did you get here? Where have you been?" Alice had more questions, but she was so happy to see her friend again and to know that there was hope some of the others were alive too.

"You, Frank and the baby need to come with me. Your lives are in danger." Dorcus told them with some urgency in her voice.

"We already know that, the house is under the Fidelius Charm. We can't do anything else." Alice tried to assure her friend.

"There is another place I need to take you to. It's where I have been and it will keep you safe."

"We can't leave, the Order needs us and we are safe at our own home." Frank insisted. Something wasn't right. Why would she want to take them some place else?

Dorcus didn't reply to Frank's statement. Instead she pulled them together and whispered "Mission Control," and they were whisked away. Mrs. Longbottom, that was standing a about a meter away stood stunned as she watched her only family being portkeyed through her wards. Before she had time to retaliate, Dorcus threw a scarf around the old woman's neck and again said, "Mission Control," and they were both portkeyed to the same place as Frank, Alice and Neville.

Dorcus, after staying at Between Manor for several weeks, knew what was at stake. She didn't know the Potters were going to die, she had been told someone else was taking care of them. She now understood what the war was actually about and didn't hesitate to bring her friends into it. They would be happy for the information she had been privy to she was sure, especially when the family realized it was Harry Potter's future self that was giving that information.

As for Silver and Black, they knew the Longbottoms could be a hindrance to their plans. Since the Death Eaters were either liberated from the mark or would die in the attack of the Potters with their 'Lord', there would be no attack on Frank and Alice. Therefore, either Dumbledore would do something and blame it on Death Eaters, or they would be able to keep little Harry because Alice was his godmother. They all knew Dumbledore was going to have Sirius sent to Azkaban to get him out of the way.

"What the bloody hell…" started Frank Longbottom as he took in his surroundings after a moment to recuperate from the dizzy sensation he always got from portkeys. So began the long explanation of Between Manor and Harry Potter.

Back at Prince Manor…

Harry and Severus were in ignorant bliss about what happened to the Longbottom family. They were having some problems of their own. Not having seen Salazar for the past two days, Becca looked to be even more on edge and in need of her fiancé's comfort than before. They had been told that Sal was working on a project and they would know what it was when the time came.

Everyone else in the household, including the enormous number of elves at the different Prince Conglomerate facilities, was rather hard to get along with too. Everyone, that knew the adult Potters were to die that evening, was trying hard not to think about it. Even the children were being somewhat clingy and out of sorts, needing their parents constantly for comfort. Poor Lillian was so effected by the stress, that she would not even let Harry put her down for a nap. She would only allow Harry to hold her or if not Harry then Severus. Every time they tried to put her down, even when asleep, she would start whimpering and then crying if she was not picked back up immediately. Finally the two men did the only thing they could think of to do. They brought both children into their bedroom and with just a drop of children's calming potion each they all took a nap, the two children sleeping on the chests of their fathers.

It was 10:58 PM …

Voldemort decided to apparate to the village of Godric's Hollow and watch and wait outside the home of James and Lily Potter. He watched through the window as the happy couple was up with their child. It was a tradition in some wizarding families to stay up for the bewitching hour at midnight on All Hollows Eve. That was when the magic was at its most powerful. He would watch and wait until ten minutes before midnight just to be sure that as the clock struck, he would strike at the child having already taken care of the parents.

At 11:00 PM…

First Born was waking his master. He knew that he had to hurry after the message from Second Born; he just hoped they would make it in time.

**"_Master, Master."** _The snake hissed_. **"You are needed!"** _He hissed louder. As he was hissing at the man lying in the bed, he thumped his tail on the chest of the two men. It was Severus that woke first.

_**"What's the matter?"** _the man hissed_._

_**"Nagini is not yet dead. She didn't eat the rat. You need to go, Second Born is in trouble."** _Just as First Born was explaining things, Fifth Born came into the room_._

_**"Master, we must hurry!"** _Fifth Born had also gotten the message_._

"Harry, Harry wake up!" Severus said his voice with some urgency in the tone. 

"Sev, what's the matter? Is it time for little Harry to get here?" They had both gone to bed, after finally getting the children to sleep in their own room, deciding to take a nap as the activities of that night and the next day were going to be quite exhausting.

"Nagini isn't dead and Second Born is in trouble." Severus replied after he could see the younger man was waking. "I am going to Voldemort's lair and kill that snake once and for all."

"Not without me you are not. You can't wield the sword of Gryffindor and that will be the quickest way to make sure she is dead." Harry argued as they were putting on their clothes.

"We have to hurry, if she is still alive when Voldemort attacks, he won't completely die." Severus felt compelled to tell the young man. He wasn't even sure where the sword was at the moment.

"Gryffindor sword!" cried Harry holding his hands as if the sword were in them already. The next second, the sword was in his hands.

"How did you do that?" Severus wanted to know as he was putting on his cloak.

"Godric taught me."

At 11:07 PM

The soulmated couple and their snake familiars arrived at the manor that Voldemort was currently using. All appeared to be quiet as they entered and made their way to the last known location of Second Born. It was too bad that the killing feature in the eyes of a basilisk didn't work on another snake. The only creature that was immune to the deadly stare.

They quickly made their way to the throne room only to see that Nagini was hissing and striking at Second Born in a corner of the room. They watched in horror as the snake attacked again and again. Most of the time Second Born was able to move out of the way and Voldemort's familiar struck at the rock behind him. But a few times she must have hit her mark because they could see that the basilisk had been hurt.

Harry ran over to Nagini and chopped off about five centimeters of her tail. It was the only thing that came immediately to mind to get her attention. He had to get her far enough away from Second Born so there was no risk of missing and hitting him. She had been so focused on her prey; she wasn't paying attention to the rest of the room.

As soon as she turned to attack Harry he stepped back so he was far enough away from Second Born to strike. He cut off her head with an upward swing, and then ran the blade through the top of the head. They all watched as a black cloud left her dead and mutilated body. Breathing a sigh of relief, Harry then went to see how badly Second Born was hurt.

He was not too bad considering Nagini was twice his size, but still his eye was badly injured and there were gashes in the middle of his body. Severus came over from where he was standing watch and whispered to Harry. "We have to hurry, Death Eaters are coming."

They both quickly changed into their animagus forms and with the snakes about their necks they flashed out just as three Death Eaters, including Belletrix, came into the room. "You are so screwed," they trilled as they disappeared from the room.

"Did I just see a black and a white phoenix with snakes around their necks?" one of the people in the room asked, even as his wand was still pointed at the empty corner.

"Don't be so ridiculous!" Belletrix shouted at him. "What would a phoenix be doing here?" She stormed out of the room, seeing as nothing was there, complaining about stupid snakes and their foolish games. She totally missed the mutilated body of her master's familiar. She didn't really like that snake anyway.

At 11:12 PM…

Voldemort was standing outside the Potter home when he felt a pang. Something was wrong with Nagini, his beloved familiar. He would see to it as soon as he got back to the manor. He had to stay focused on the task at hand.

Another half hour later, the greatest Dark Lord in history was out of patience. It was close enough to the bewitching hour for him to make his move. He stormed into the room just as Lily was standing to take the child back to his crib.

"Lily," James cried, "run, get Harry out of here!"

Lily ran up the stairs even as she felt a strange force at the same time as she heard "Aveda Kedavra," then heard as her husband fell to the floor with a thump. She barricaded Harry and herself in the baby's room. Quickly opening the baby's trunk and swirled her wand to pack everything in it. At least if she didn't survive, the baby would have his things and both his godparents knew the trunk was to go with him.

Just as she finished and the trunk closed with a snap, the door was blasted through and there stood Voldemort, magic swirling around him, with his wand pointed at the mother and child. "Step aside woman; it is the child I want!"

"No, not Harry, take me instead. Please, leave my son alone."

"You can't fight me!" Voldemort shouted. "You don't even have your wand!" He snarled and the evil laughter coming from the mad man was almost hysterical in his excitement to have defeated the prophecy.

At that precise moment, clarification came to the young woman that she was going to die. She didn't know why it popped into her head, but she was reminded of a movie she had seen a few years ago.

"You are so screwed," she whispered as the green light flashed to her. She felt the power of the magic around her and the killing curse hit her and then knew nothing more.

Voldemort was standing there as he watched the baby crying for its mother. It was so sickeningly sweet it was disgusting. The mad man knew that there were probably alarms on the house that would alert the aurors or the Order and he was not sticking around for a battle. He pointed his wand and said the fateful words that would void the prophecy once and for all.

"Aveda Kedavra!"

Before the curse finished his lips, the baby in the crib pointed a finger at him and said "No!" as the last of the words were spoken. A bright flare of magic so strong it shocked the great wizard and he blacked out and was transported to the pits of hell.

"Noooooooo!" cried his soul as it descended on its journey. This was not meant to happen; he had taken measures to prevent it.

The Bewitching Hour…

The alarms in Dumbledore's office went off. He may not have been the Secret Keeper, but before the Fidelius Charm was enacted, he had placed alarms on the house just in case the security was breached. If the prophecy was true, then the Potter child was still alive. If his luck had held out the Potter parents would be dead, giving him the chance to groom young Harry Potter in any way he wished. Albus suddenly realized that he knew exactly where the Potters lived. The Fidelius Charm had been broken.

So as not to be under any suspicion he called Minerva McGonagall to his quarters. When she arrived, she was wearing her night dress and cap and looked as if she had just woken up. Given the late hour, that was probably true.

"Minerva, you need to get dressed, the Potter's house has been attacked and we need to find out what happened," said the old man.

The witch took out her wand and waved it changing her clothes to warm street wear and then said, "I'm ready Albus".

On their way to the apparation point, Albus decided to get Hagrid to come in case they needed help. He may not be much magical help, but he sure could push his way through anything, and spells didn't affect him in the same manner as humans.

When they arrived at Godric's Hollow, there was a huge hole in the house and a baby's cry could be heard. Several of the neighbors were outside looking at the house in tears, knowing something bad must have happened. Just as one neighbor was about to go into the house, Albus Dumbledore told them that he would go and check on the family. Just as he went through the open door, he saw James lying on the floor of the sitting room. He then followed the sound of the baby's cries to the upstairs and looked into the baby's room.

He could feel the magic humming in the air. Not any sounds but a pulse going through his body. If that magic was coming from the baby, it was no wonder he was a child of prophecy. He would be very powerful and Dumbledore would be there to reap the benefits.

There was Voldemort lying dead on the floor. The old man stepped over the body to get to the baby in the crib. His mother was also on the floor, still as death. He picked up the child and the blanket with the initials HJP stitched in the corner and carried the baby outside.

"Voldemort is dead!" he announced to everyone on the street. "We will take the child back to the castle with us until his guardians can be found." Albus Dumbledore said to the people standing around the house. With a flick of his wand, he sealed the house, as he didn't have time to see to the bodies of the three left there. He wanted to get out of sight before anyone else came to attack the place. Also he was not sure that the aurors would appreciate him taking possession of the little child.

They went back to the castle with the little babe in Hagrid's arms.

Four strangers portkeyed in at that same moment to collect Harry's box and to exchange the bodies of Lily and James with two golems that Salazar and his team had just completed. Sal was looking bleary eyed and there were dark circles under his eyes as he carefully placed portkeys on the bodies to send them to Doc. He looked at Becca, who had insisted she come, and wondered what they were doing.

"We don't want anyone to get their blood and possibly break the wards, now do we?" she said with a shrug. She wasn't sure herself what they were doing. Actually, it felt kind of wrong to disturb the dead, but her note had said to switch the bodies so that was what she was going to do.

They portkeyed back to Prince Manor to see if Severus and Harry had made it back yet.


	86. Yes! We Have Him

Posted 15 March 2010

Chapter 86 Yes! We Have Him

The magical world was in an uproar. Voldemort was dead and so apparently were his death eaters. The Ministry of Magic received a box full of dead bodies with a note.

They should at least have a proper burial.

No mention of where they came from or why they were dead. People from the ministry were missing also. The Minister's aides were called for an emergency meeting but some of them were not found.

At Between Manor…

Silver and Black were anxious to get to Becca and the rest of the 'family'. The others may not have been their family from their own timeline, but they were family none the less. They had placed all the dead in one of the containment trunks and sent it to the Ministry. Then the others, the former Death Eaters and the former victims were all sent home for their own celebrations and reunions with family members and friends. The whole magical world was having a party and the others would want to join in. There was no longer any danger from the dark megalomaniac. Now they had to deal with the other one.

At a manor in France…

Severus flooed Lucius and Narcissa and told them Voldemort was dead. Even through the distorted fire of the intercontinental connection, you could see the relief on their faces. They could make plans to go back home.

The couple told their aunt (who was no more ill than they were) good bye and packed up their things. Narcissa was now six months pregnant and was concerned about getting home before she was too far along to get around and see to the manor.

After having been closed up for over three months, it would need a few things done to it, even with the elves there to keep it free of dust. She needed to redecorate the nursery and have the children's bedrooms refurbished also. They were getting older and Draco didn't even have a room. He had still been in the nursery when they left.

The international portkey was a taxing experience. Narcissa was glad to be home, but she had to leave the children to the elves to settle as the trip was hard on a pregnant woman. Lucius was worried about her but she insisted she would be fine. He needed to get to Prince Manor and find out what was going on. They hadn't gotten many details on what was to happen next; only that it was safe to come home.

He would go to see the Prince family tomorrow. Today he had funerals to plan. He was sure that Narcissa was not up to planning her sister's burial.

At Hogwarts School…

The deceased Potter's brat was in the headmaster's office. He was crying again and Albus had just about enough. Fawkes tried to calm the little one with a song, but Albus didn't want to hear that either. He did what he needed to do to make sure Harry was under his control and placed blocks on the incredible amount of magic the child was releasing in waves. He would bring the child to the Dursley's tonight, but would have to do it in the dark so no one would see him.

He told Minerva that they were Harry's only family and he needed Lily's sister's blood to create blood wards for the child. They didn't want any Death Eaters to find out where he was and kidnap him. He didn't inform her that he, in fact, had kidnapped the child and had no right to say where the child would go. She just assumed he was doing this for the best.

He had sent Hagrid to the house in Godric's Hollow to look for anything that Harry may need. He asked him to bring all the books in the house to the school, so he could keep them for when the baby grew older and started school. Secretly, he just wanted to possess the books for himself. Many purebloods had old and rare books that were priceless. Little did he know, Lily had been keeping all the important books in Harry's trunk in case something happened. That was where the book she received from Gringotts was.

Hagrid came back with his meager offerings from the house and Dumbledore had to assume that the books were hidden, or that they were in the vaults. That was the next thing he had to work on; getting access to the Potter vaults.

Hagrid had come back on Sirius' motorbike. He said that Sirius had come to the house in Godric's Hollow to see if the stories were true. When Hagrid told him that Dumbledore had the baby and was taking care of things, he loaned the kindly giant his vehicle and said, "I have something important to do. I will be in touch as soon as I take care of some business," he then apparated out of there to find himself a rat.

That night at the bewitching hour, Dumbledore went to the street of Privet Drive and made things ready for the delivery of little Harry Potter. Hagrid was bringing the little tyke and Minerva had already been there all day.

The older woman protested vehemently about leaving the little one with those 'awful muggles' but the Headmaster would hear none of it. He was erecting the blood wards for the child to be safe and he had a plan. Of course, he didn't tell her about his plan, but he had one and all would work out for the greater good.

At Prince Manor…

Harry was pacing again. He was trying to stay calm but it just was not working. The children were not as upset today as yesterday and for that he was grateful, but he wanted to know what was happening to the baby in Dumbledore's care and why he hadn't been delivered yet.

Severus finally gave him a calming draft and sent him to take a nap. He was going to wear out from all that nervous energy if he didn't get some sleep. Everyone was waiting for the little Potter to arrive.

They truly had wanted to take him before Dumbledore got his hands on the fifteen month old. The only reason they didn't was because he would have recognized a golem immediately and there would have been too many questions and they hadn't wanted to start another war right after the first one was over. It was different with the adult Potters, they were dead and didn't have to be animated.

No, as much as they hated it, it was decided by the war counsel that they would wait for Dumbledore to deliver the baby and then take possession of him.

While Severus was taking care of Harry, Doc arrived to speak with Becca about a few patients that had arrived at the medical facility.

"What have you done?" he asked the woman. Salazar was there too and had to ask him what he was talking about.

"The patients that arrived last night, we were not to meddle with that situation. The one situation you were not meant to change. We need to get your Grandfathers here. NOW!"

Doc exclaimed.

Becca didn't know what was going on, but just as she was going to portkey to Between Manor, a silver phoenix and a black phoenix flashed into the sitting room. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw them change back to their human form.

"Thank Merlin you are here. Doc was just telling us about a problem and he wanted you here before he explained what the problem is." Becca told her Grandfathers with gratitude in her voice.

"What seems to be wrong?" Black asked just as Severus entered the room.

"Is there a problem?" he asked after hearing the previous question.

It was Doc that answered. This was a real problem and he wasn't sure how to tell them. "Two patients were portkeyed into the medical facility last night. Their medical scans showed an anomaly that can't possibly be. It was not meant to happen this way. We have to decide what to do. Both patients are in a healing coma right now and have almost no magic to their cores. We are keeping them on life support and using the sound therapy to regenerate their magic but to be honest I don't think there is much that can be done."

"Who are the patients?" Severus asked the healer he had come to respect.

"You don't know?"

"I wouldn't ask if I did." Severus responded. 'What was going on?' he was wondering.

Doc paused a moment before dropping this bombshell of news. "The Potters"

"What?"

"Not possible."

"I didn't know that!"

Everyone started talking at once until Salazar gave an ear piercing whistle to get everyone's attention.

"Are you telling me that they survived the killing curse?"

"Well, I don't know if you would call it surviving in their condition, but yes they are alive and in the medical facility. Didn't you know? Isn't that why you portkeyed them there?" Doc asked the family in front of them.

"All I know is that Becca sent a note to herself saying that golems were needed for the Potters. We thought it was because someone was going to try and take some of their blood to bypass the blood wards."

"We have to figure out what happened and what it means now that the one event you were not allowed to change has changed anyway," Severus said.

"There is something else you should know." Doc informed them as they were sitting, stunned at the change in events.

"What else could possibly be added to this already astounding news?" asked Severus, a bit of the old snarky self projected through.

"Some of the medical scans did not work on them. I had to use some of the new spells I developed to check on Lillian's health. Somehow, they have some of her magic."

"Uh oh," was said by Becca and Salazar both at one time.

Severus, Black and Silver looked at the three suspiciously. "What did you mean by that?" asked Silver.

Becca looked sheepish and said, "We did a family crest with a seven soul blood ritual. We used the children, me, Harry and the three Potters. My intention was to help protect the baby; I didn't know it would react that way with his parents."

"What did you mean about Lillian's magic being different?" Silver still didn't understand what was going on, nor how the Potters were alive.

"She was conceived just before mine and Harry's bonding, in spite of the contraceptive potions he had taken. There was a power surge during her conception and several small ones after that, but later during the bonding the power surge was so strong that it broke through a seven person shield during the ceremony. It was a thrice blessed bonding, using three dark and three light creature magics. Her magic is a combination of both light and dark and reacts differently to all other spells. It is different from neutral magic which can be light or dark. Her magic actually is light AND dark." Severus felt compelled to explain.

"The power wave that brought us here," Silver said quietly.

"So some things were meant to change," Black answered just as quietly.

"What are you talking about?" Salazar asked.

"Sorry, let me explain," Silver said. "We thought we were off to the next great adventure when our timeline destroyed itself. A power boost of magic started building and we decided to follow it. We had assumed that it was from the magic pushing us out of our world as it came to an end, sending us to another place to help another timeline. But from what you are telling us, I think that it was the magic here, _pulling_ us, and this was destined to happen. Not in any of the other timelines have we, meaning our counterparts, created a child with a combination of magic so powerful that it created a new magic. Nor did our bonding create power surges like the ones you described."

"I don't think the Potters living is against what Time and Fate planned. I think they caused this to happen in this time line only," the black phoenix animagus said.

"Well, if that is the case, I need to see about reviving two patients that are suffering from the worst case of magical drain I have ever seen. They are in a coma now, and may remain so for quite some time." Doc told the group as he stood to go.

"Doc," Becca said "the Potters used the magical inheritance spell when Lily was pregnant with little Harry. Could they have actually died for just a minute before the magic of the seal revived them? Perhaps what they are suffering from is not magical drain but because they actually gifted it to their son to protect him."

"That's a good point. I will have Shashi look up some references and maybe we can get our hands on a copy of that spell." Doc said.

"I believe we have the spell already. I have little Harry's trunk here and Lily stored everything of value in it." Becca said trying to be helpful.

She went to the trunk and pulled out the book that had the spell and gave it to Doc. "You can start here and tell Shashi if he needs more references to stop by and use our libraries."

After a few words of farewell, Doc left to see if he could save his patients.

Harry woke up later that afternoon, well rested but having missed his lunch and he was hungry. He went into the sitting room, looking for his husband and saw Silver and Black as well as Becca and Salazar in a serious discussion with Severus right in the middle of it.

"Hey, guys, what's going on?"

"Harry, you're awake! How do you feel?" asked his husband.

"Fine… hungry… what's going on?" he repeated.

"Dumbledore is planning to deliver little Harry around midnight tonight. We were planning how to swap the child with the golem before the Dursleys find him.

So they waited and just before midnight, a security elf came to tell them that Dumbledore had been spotted on the street, putting out the street lights so that he would not be seen.

All six of the adults rushed up to the street level part of number three Privet Drive to watch what was going on. They could see McGonagall and Dumbledore talking and then they heard the roar of a motorbike and watched while it landed. Hagrid was holding the baby and handed him to Dumbledore. After a few minutes the old man placed an envelope in the blanket of the small child and placed him on the doorstep of number four Privet Drive. A few minutes later all three figures left, leaving the wrapped baby on the Dursley doorstep.

It took all of three seconds after the headmaster left for the elves and the Prince family to spring into action. As soon as the lights went out again, Harry was running across the yard to take the baby off the doorstep and bring him inside. He was very protective of the child and with good reason.

The baby snuggled down in his blanket and rested in Harry's arms as he walked back to number three. Now he could finally relax and sleep again. The baby was safe and out of the hands of those monsters that lived next door. When he arrived back at the house, Remus Sr. and Tonks were there to see if everything was alright.

The golem was popped on the doorstep with the letter from Dumbledore. They had placed it in the blanket around the golem, just before delivering their Harry Potter look alike on the doorstep. They never did see the old coot set the blood wards. Wondering how he was going to do that without Petunia's blood. But that was no concern to them as they had already planned to reset the wards as soon as they had little Harry.

Harry Prince looked at the sleeping baby and a sense of peace flowed through him. They had him, they had him and he would never have to suffer the life his other counterparts did. Now they would set the most powerful wards known to wizard kind. They needed to spread the news to their other creature partners. They would be overjoyed that the babe was now safe.

After they returned to their family quarters, the baby was put in the nursery with the other children in the third crib that had been waiting for him. Tomorrow they would shift their living quarters to include the room that was labeled 'the cupboard under the stairs'. It seems that as long as it was labeled, it was the address that would pop up on the magical wizarding address list and his letters would all say 'Cupboard under the Stairs'. No one had to know that the cupboard was three meters high and ten meters square. Lot's of room for a young boy to play and sleep and have friends over.

It was while the baby was sleeping that another note appeared on the dining room table. Becca reached it first.

"It's from Gorbink. He says in five days on November 6, 1981, Dumbledore will petition the Wizengamot to have access to the Potter vaults so he may arrange protection and future training for the Boy-Who-Lived. He originally came into Gringotts and tried to file some documents he drew up himself, saying that he, as Chief Warlock, should be the baby's magical guardian, as his godparents could not be found."

Silver answered the unasked question. "The Longbottoms know what is going on and are at home still hidden by the Fidelius Charm. Sirius is out looking for Wormtail. He won't find him. His master is dead and so is he."

"How can we be sure?" Becca asked in trepidation. She had been fighting in one war or another since birth and couldn't believe it was all over.

"The Death Eaters that we had incarcerated are all dead. We sent a trunk with over forty bodies in it to the Ministry explaining they needed a proper burial. I believe all their tombstones should read: 'I was a fool and followed a mad man. I got what I deserved'." Her grandfather informed her.

"All the others that were liberated from the mark have been reeducated and all the victims also have been educated and informed of what will happen next. One psycho down, one to go," Silver continued the conversation.

The next day…

It was Regulus and Moony that were to find Sirius and tell him the news that the Potters were not actually dead and that little Harry would be fine. They had a hard time finding him but cornered him on a muggle street as he was walking in an alleyway. They were not sure what he was doing but when they cornered him he was livid.

"Don't you understand? It's my entire fault they are dead. I am going to find that rat and kill him, I will torture and kill him like the slimy vermin that he is!" Sirius screamed at his brother and friend.

He could be heard half a block away. People were noticing and listening to him to see what the commotion was about.

"Sirius, you didn't know what would happen…" Moony started to say.

"I might as well have done. I killed my best friends." Sirius was inconsolable, but as his brother and Moony tried to get closer, he apparated out of the alley and was gone. What they didn't realize was that an auror had been hunting Sirius Black for questioning. He was wanted for an inquiry of the Potters death, and a warrant had been placed for his detainment.

The auror watched the two that had been with Sirius Black. He would report this to his superior. Regulus Black was suspected of Death Eater activity, but had not been seen for over a year. Remus Lupin was suspected of being a werewolf, but there were rumors of a cure. The new Minister for Magic, Millicent Bagnold, who had been elected the year before had not confirmed it, but then perhaps she had other things to worry about.

When they returned to the manner, Becca, Harry, Severus and Snape were in conference with Lucius Malfoy. The Malfoy Lord looked a little worse for wear as he ran his hands through the white blonde locks and sighed. He had spent all of yesterday having the dead removed from his sister-in-law's house and trying to take care of his wife. It had been a trying day.

The Lestrange home had been the headquarters for the Dark Lord's activities. They had found fifteen dead and some of those were just children just out of Hogwarts. When Lucius saw the dead and knew that could have been him and Narcissa, he wanted to get down on the ground and thank the Prince family for releasing him of that burden. He had come so close to being one of the dead.

As of now, they were in a discussion of utmost importance. Regulus and Moony came in and were asked to be a part as they needed to know some facts now that one threat was over.

"Dumbledore will ask for an emergency meeting of the Wizengamot to petition to be Harry's magical guardian. He wants access to the Potter vaults. He has already tried to make a claim with Gringotts, but not having the proper paperwork he has been denied." Harry explained to the others.

"What do you need us to do?" Lucius asked.

"How much do you trust your attorneys?" Severus asked.

"They are the best. Why?" Lucius answered.

"Yes, but do you trust them?" Severus repeated.

"Of course, they are paid well to be trustworthy," Lucius replied.

"Good, here is what we want to do…"

The meeting broke up an hour later with an appointment to see Lucius' attorneys the next day. Sometimes it really paid to be a good Slytherin.


	87. The Wizengamot

Posted 15 March 2010

Chapter 87 The Wizengamot

Two days later on November 5, 1981…

It was the day before the hearing that Dumbledore was going to demand at the last minute so no one would have any warning. Because the Wizengamot had to notify the goblins, they and the attorneys would be waiting to hear at what time the meeting would start, and be at the Ministry immediately.

The blood wards had been erected using goblin, elf, vampire and wizard magic. No wizard could enter the area without a family member. Remus Sr. Tonks, Salazar and Moony were added during the ceremony as well as the other creature participants. Because Snape was Severus' counterpart, he was already included into the intricate magic that was contained in the shields. They covered the whole underground fortress as well as everything that was street level above it. Now the family could be more active above ground and use the houses and enjoy the outside. It was one of the things about the underground that bothered Becca. She liked fresh air and to see a real sun or cloudy weather as it was today.

It was during the time that Becca was seeing to the moving of several pieces of furniture that they heard from Rita Skeeter.

She had come to be good friends with the Prince family. Recognizing that in them, not only could they make her famous, but they had a real heart for the magical world and wanted to change it. Not through wars and fighting, but through progress and business and prosperity. It was such a new concept she wondered why no one else had thought about it.

"Severus," Rita said through the mini floo, "I just heard that Sirius Black was arrested on the suspicion of killing the Potters. It also seems that no one knows what happened to Harry Potter, although I suspect you know."

"Harry Potter was placed in his aunt's custody by Albus Dumbledore. Are you available to come to a Wizengamot hearing tomorrow? We don't know the time yet, so we would have you come here and leave with us."

"Is this going to be headline material?" Rita asked with a gleam in her eyes.

Severus laughed at the woman that had proven useful for the last six months. "I can guarantee that you will not be disappointed," he told the reporter without really answering her question about headlines.

"What time do you want me there?" she asked excitedly.

On November 6, 1981 at 12:47 PM…

Everyone was in the sitting room waiting… and waiting… and… "When are we going to find out?" Harry said impatiently. "I just want this to be over!"

"Calm down Harry, maybe something happened and he won't try to get the Potter vaults." Severus said dryly.

Harry snorted at him in disbelief just as the floo flared to life. Gorbink was on the other side and said, "Show time everyone, I have been called to be at the Ministry in Courtroom Seven in thirteen minutes.

The floo cut off, but they didn't need anymore information they had to act fast. "Alright ladies," Severus said to Becca and Rita. "You heard the man, let's get ready."

Becca drank a nasty tasting potion and wanted to throw up afterwards. "Merlin, Severus, can't you make these things taste any better?"

"No" came the response from both Severus and Harry at the same time. How many times had Harry asked that question? Too many to count.

Rita changed to her animagus form and rested in Severus pocket. He and Harry were going, but they would have to stay out of sight using a charm. Becca now looked like a horsey woman that was too thin for her own health and looked at the others. "Hey, can someone fix my clothes? Doesn't this woman eat?"

Salazar laughed and spelled her clothes to fit her new frame. Becca then picked up little Harry and said, "Alright guys, we are ready to go."

They arrived at the Ministry of Magic with three minutes to spare, but still needed to get to courtroom seven. Harry gave a mild shudder as he remembered his own courtroom experience after the dementor incident.

They quickly made their way through the crowd and arrived outside the courtroom door at the same time the attorneys did. "Are you ready to play the part of your life, young lady?" one of the attorneys asked.

"For little Harry? You can count on it."

They walked in just as Dumbledore was addressing the Wizengamot.

"What is this interruption? This is a closed session and we will not be disturbed," the old man said.

Becca was hidden behind the attorneys and Dumbledore didn't see her or the baby yet. The attorneys spoke up, "If it pleases the Minister, we are here about the same matter Albus Dumbledore has summoned you about. I have with us Petunia Dursley and her nephew, Harry Potter."

There was murmuring in the courtroom as the members to preside over the case looked to see who was behind the legal counsel. Snape, Lucius and Moony had all come with the legal team and were surrounding Becca and little Harry.

Minister Bagnold raised her gavel and hit the podium with a resounding crack. "Order, ladies and gentlemen, we do not need all this noise." She then turned back to the occupants standing in the doorway. "As this matter concerns Harry Potter and his aunt is in custody of him, I believe we will allow this intrusion. Surely we all want what is best for the child and the Chief Warlock's request has been challenged by Gringotts."

The attorneys were looking at the Minister expectantly and she requested, "You may take your proper place in this courtroom."

Three very aristocratic and well known men entered the area for legal counsel. Sitting directly behind them were Moony, Lucius and Snape, wearing their finest silk black robes. Both Snape and Lucius had their lordship rings on their right hand and their family crest in the proper place on the left breast, outlined in a gold wreath denoting they were the Lords of their family. All of the stitching was of the finest acromantula silk thread and their robes were of the latest fashion. Snape had taken Harry and Severus' advice and taken possession of the Prince family vaults and properties.

Becca was sitting next to Moony, with little Harry in her lap. He had been fussy earlier but when they sat down he settled down a bit. Until he looked at who was sitting next to him.

"Moo" the baby said quietly, as he raised his arms to Moony. He remembered Moony from his visits to the Potters. Moony was the one that gave him his train. The man picked up the little boy out of Becca's lap and settled him down so he was sitting and looking at the people in the room.

Both of the soulmated couples were in the courtroom as well as Salazar. They were not going to miss this show for the world. They looked around and saw, Molly Weasley, of all people in the courtroom and she had the newest baby with her. A little girl this time, named Ginevra. Harry shuddered, for the second time that day, at the possible reasons they would be here. Thank Merlin; they were going to be able to stop this madness.

Albus Dumbledore was fuming under the guise of his twinkling eyes. How did they find out so fast that he was calling a meeting today?

With three raps of the gavel the Minister stated, "For the record, this meeting will come to order on the matter of Harry Potter and his guardian. This day is November 6, 1981 and the time is five minutes after one post meridiem. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore will address the court first. His petition is to be the magical guardian of one Harry James Potter and to have access to funds to facilitate that appointment.

Albus Dumbledore stood to address the Wizengamot. He stressed all the reasons he should have access to the Potter vaults, citing the need for security and even posting guards to make sure the baby remained safe. Since no one knew what happened to all the Death Eaters, there may still be Voldemort supporters that would want to harm him.

When he was finished with his blustering, the Minister addressed the courtroom again.

"As Albus Dumbledore has completed his request we will now hear from the attorneys representing Harry Potter and his aunt, Petunia Dursley.

The eldest attorney stood up for the court, "It has long been a practice to allow magical orphans to remain in the magical world, especially those of pureblood descent. However, Albus Dumbledore brings up a good point. Harry Potter's godparents are not available at this time, although we believe that they will be reached very soon. It is Petunia Dursley's option to appoint a magical guardian from people she knows or to leave it for anther time when the whereabouts of said godparents can be ascertained."

The second attorney then stood, "We would like to call to the stand Mrs. Petunia Dursley."

Becca stood up (polyjuiced as Petunia) with Harry in her arms and stepped down the stairs to the witness box that the attorney indicated. The baby was sleeping again and clutched to her shirt.

Minister Bagnold turned to Petunia, "Is your name is Petunia Dursley and are you the blood relative of Harry James Potter."

"I am a blood relative of Harry James Potter and my name is Petunia Dursley, at least today it is." She said with a smirk. She didn't see it, but both Severus and her grandfather were glaring at her.

"What do you mean 'at least today'?" The Minister questioned.

"What would you say if your husband took exception to taking a child in? I told him I could change my name tomorrow if he didn't agree." There were snickers in the courtroom and as several of the women in the Wizengamot tried to hold in the laughs. You could tell because several of the ladies had their hand over their mouths to muffle the noise.

"Yes, I see your point," the Minister replied with a smile of her own.

"How did you come to hire Wizard attorneys?" the Minister was really interested in the answer to that question. Muggles didn't know anything about their world and she would never have expected the group that came in today.

"Oh, that was easy. Severus Snape, Lily and I were childhood friends. We lived not too far from each other even before Lily went to Hogwarts."

Albus Dumbledore lifted his eyebrows in surprise. He didn't know that Severus and Lily had known each other.

"So I sent the owl, which showed up when Harry did, to get in touch with Severus when I saw the baby was left with us. I was concerned about raising a magical child." Becca looked at the attorneys, she knew her grandfather was there and she needed his strength.

"He in turn said that there were several things that needed to be done for Harry and asked his friend Mr. Malfoy for advice. Mr. Malfoy then made some inquiries with his attorneys so that everything would be legal and there would be no problems."

"You have known Severus Snape a long time then?"

"Oh yes, Minister, since Lily was about six or seven years old."

"Do you agree with Albus Dumbledore that you need protection?"

"I object, Madame Minister," Dumbledore shouted into the room. "How would a muggle know about the protections needed for a young wizard like Harry?"

"Well, as I understand it, there are blood wards on the house because of Lily's sacrifice to save her son. It was in a letter left with the baby that was written by Albus Dumbledore. The goblins from Gringotts and then Misters Snape and Malfoy have both checked and they said we are very safe," Becca answered the outburst.

"What about the child's needs? Don't you feel you will need funds for that?" the Minister asked.

"Of course, but when our parents died, Lily and I both put our money in trust funds for our future children. We did it on the same day our parent's estate was settled. Also, Lily and James had taken out an insurance policy. They only thing I need is a… what do you call us? Oh yes, a muggle death certificate."

"A muggle insurance policy?" the Minister queried.

"It gives monetary protection for the family against early disability or death. They each took one out in case Harry had to be moved to our world."

"I see," the Minister then rapped her gavel twice and stated, "Let the record show that Mrs. Dursley will be furnished with muggle death certificates for Lily and James Potter."

"Thank you Minister." Becca (Petunia) said graciously.

"So what are you requesting for the Gringotts accounts as Harry's only blood relative?"

"I formally request that the accounts be sealed until his eighteenth birthday. This is the age that he becomes a legal adult." Becca responded.

"Actually, in the wizarding world, the legal age is seventeen. I would suggest that you allow him access at that time."

"I acknowledge your wisdom in this matter and amend my earlier request." Becca stated formally.

The Minister then addressed Severus Snape. "Mr. Snape, do you feel that the protection around young Mr. Potter is adequate for his security?"

"Madame Minister, I work for Prince Conglomerate and they have assured me that they will personally check the wards periodically. They will also, if needed, post one of their own security guards to protect the family. They feel that protecting children is of the utmost importance. In addition, I will also be keeping surveillance on the wards to make sure they stay in place."

"Who is the other gentleman sitting next to you?"

"This is Remus J. Lupin Jr.; he has been a long time friend of the Potters and is also employed at Prince Conglomerate."

"Do you Mr. Lupin, agree with Mr. Snape on the safety issues brought forth in this court?" the Minister asked.

"I believe the wards currently erected around the residence of Harry Potter are quite adequate. I have known the Potters since our first year at Hogwarts and we were very close."

"Very well." The minister turned to Becca and said, "Mrs. Dursley, I see no reason to refuse your request as you have several people here to vouch for you and have stated they will continue to look out for the welfare of the child. Is there anything else you require from this court before we make our final decision?"

"Yes, last week Lily said if anything happened to them that I should let someone know that Sirius was not keeping her secret." Becca said, feigning confusion on her face. "No, that wasn't right; she said he was not the one with the secret… or something like that."

"Are you telling us that Sirius Black was not their Secret Keeper?"

"Yes, that is what she said. I am sorry to not remember the words exactly. I am unfamiliar with your terms."

"Does anyone in this court know where Sirius Black is at this time?" the Minister asked the court.

One junior auror stood up and spoke, "Yes, Madame Minister, he is in the holding cells to be shipped off to Azkaban for murdering the Potters and suspicion of being a You-Know-Who supporter." It was interesting how the auror lowered his voice when saying Voldemort's moniker.

"You will go get this man immediately after these proceedings."

"Yes, Madame Minister."

"Excuse me Minister; there is something else I needed to ask about." Becca timidly approached the woman.

"What else may we do for you?"

"I wanted to know about health care. In my world we do not brand our children and I don't know what to say when Harry goes to the doctor. I know he did not have it last week when I visited with my sister." Becca said as she waited for the explosion to happen.

"I don't understand what you mean. What brand? We do not brand our children."

Becca had been unfastening the pants that Harry had on to show them. She saw, out of the corner of her eye, Dumbledore try to sneak out the door. She also saw the stunner that hit him, from under the invisibility charms, which one of the men shot at the old man.

Becca turned the baby around and showed the court his right thigh that indeed had the sex slave brand prominently displayed on his flesh.

The courtroom was in an uproar. People were shouting at the audacity of anyone doing something to a child. Several of the older members of the courts came to the witness box to examine what had been done to the savior of the wizarding world. One of them recognized the brand as the Dumbledore crest and they started looking for the man in question.

Above all else, Molly Weasley, stood with Ginny in her arms and screamed, "You promised! You promised that he would marry my Ginny; that you could create the marriage contract. How dare you lie to me?"

The Minister was rapping with her gavel to try to get everyone's attention. Someone found Dumbledore close to the door stunned and levitated him down to the chair for the accused. You know which one, the one with the chains on it.

Becca noticed that at some point, Rita had dropped her disguise and was furiously writing the whole thing. She had three parchment pads with dicta quills writing the whole thing down. Someone was chaining Dumbledore to the chair in the room with thick heavy chains and Molly Weasley was still shouting about promises to her Ginny about her becoming the next Lady Potter. The poor little girl that couldn't be more than two months old was crying with all the noise and upset around her. Harry clutched his aunt when several people had gathered around him to look at his leg.

Becca noticed that it was now getting to be close to three in the afternoon so she looked around her at the mass confusion and took another swig of the awful potion that tasted so bad she wanted to spit it back out. Only for little Harry and her family would she drink such a foul concoction.

Poor Harry didn't know what all the fuss was about and started to cry at all the loud noises in the room. Finally the Minister retained some order in the room and demanded, "Headmaster Dumbledore, you will explain yourself."

"I was trying to protect the boy. I didn't mean any harm. It was to know if he was in trouble or attacked in spite of the protections around him." He was hoping that no one knew it was a sex slave brand.

"Try again, Albus, I know what that mark means." One of the Ministers aides stated as he looked at the headmaster in disgust.

One of the attorneys stood and interjected, "Madame Minister, I believe that in situations like these we have enough evidence to request a confession under veritaserum."

"I second that request," someone in the back of the room shouted out.

The Minister again rapped with her gavel and stated, "It has been requested and seconded that a veritaserum confession be granted. Does anyone oppose?" No one raised their hand in opposition. "Then let the record show a unanimous vote for the use of veritaserum on Chief Warlock Albus Dumbledore."

"You will go get the veritaserum," The Minister said to the auror in the room.

"Excuse me Minister, but I happen to have some on my person that was bottled at Prince Pharmaceuticals. You may check it if it pleases the court." Snape had stood to make his offer in hopes of having a better product to get the best confession. Albus had built up a tolerance and he wanted the man to fry.

"As Mr. Snape is a Master level potion's brewer, the court will allow this. We require a vow that this is brewed to ministry specifications."

So Albus was given the new and improved veritaserum and spilled all his secrets. The attorneys knew, from the Prince family, exactly what he had been doing and they had him confessing everything. The Wizengamot members were beyond disgusted and had never thought to hear such things. Not even from Voldemort.


	88. The Verdict

Posted 18 March 2010

Chapter 88 The Verdict

"Order!" rap, rap, rap went the gavel on the old mahogany wood pedestal the Minister was standing next to. "Order!" Minister Bagnold demanded again. This was getting out of hand. She motioned for the auror to come next to her side so she could speak with him and be heard.

"I want you to get Head Auror Rufus Scrimgeour in here now. Tell him to bring Sirius Black with him and a few more aurors. Do it quickly!"

The auror, who was not comfortable in the room with everyone screaming, hurried on his way to do the Minister's bidding. He had never been witness to such proceedings before and had a feeling things were going to get worse before they got better. Imagine, Headmaster Dumbledore, admitting to placing a sex slave brand on the wizarding world's savior. A baby! How did the old man hope to get away with that? He was well known and well respected, why would he need to do that? The young man was thinking about all the implications as he ran through the corridors looking for his boss.

Back in the courtroom, the Minister finally got the room quiet. She looked off to the side and thought she saw Rita Skeeter in the sidelines but then she vanished before she could get a good look at her. She couldn't see the men sitting there under the cloaking spells that had just included the reporter under their shield. Said reporter didn't even notice as she was scribbling furiously. She was rapidly becoming well known as a serious and evidently well connected journalist.

It was almost four post meridiem before the room had quieted. The Minister wanted to ask Petunia Dursley one more question. "Mrs. Dursley, you have told us that Sirius Black was not the Potter's Secret Keeper. Do you have any idea who was?"

"Sure," the young woman said as the baby started to wiggle around on her lap, "Lily said Peter Pettigrew was keeping her secret and she said he was an animaji… no… an animaned… no… he was ..."

"An animagus?" the Minister finished for her.

"Yes that's it!" Petunia's eyes lit up as if in relief, like it was exactly what she had been trying to say.

"Does…" The Minister started to say just as the door flew open and Sirius Black was escorted into the room. He was covered in grime and was shackled around his ankles and wrists and was being dragged more that led into the room.

"I didn't kill the Potters, I tell you, and we were best friends! James was like a brother to me, I would never hurt him!" Evidently no one had told him why he was coming to the courtroom. The young auror that had gone to get him knew his innocence was already established.

Rap, rap, rap went the gavel again. "Mr. Black, you will be silent in my court or you will go back to the holding cell. Do I make myself clear?"

Sirius Black looked around the room for the first time. At first he thought he was on trial, which was better than not having a trial, but he wasn't sure why all these people were here. There was a young woman in the witness box that looked familiar, but he couldn't remember from where. The baby that was facing her looked like it might have been Harry, but he couldn't see his face from where he was standing.

"Mister Barstrum, would you and your team be willing to represent Mister Sirius Black as a purely logistical measure in order to expedite matters?" the Minister asked of the three barristers sitting in the counsel box.

"Mister Black is a member of Narcissa Malfoy's family. As long as Mister Malfoy has no objections we will facilitate in this matter, as we are his family attorneys."

Lucius Malfoy stood to address the Minister, "I have no objections Madam Minister. I would, however, like to do a bit of magic to make him more presentable." The Malfoy Lord grinned at Sirius before receiving permission then a thorough scourgify spell later, and a transfiguration of the awful clothes he had on, they were able to sit back down. It was as if Sirius had been hit with a stupefy hex. Here was Albus Dumbledore in the chair for the accused and Lucius Malfoy, alive and well, helping him in court. His world had turned upside down. He sat with a thud and a blank look on his face.

"Now," the Minister started, "where were we?" She looked pensive for a moment before her eyes cleared. "Ah yes. Mrs. Dursley has just told us that Peter Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper for the Potters. Does anyone know where he is?"

Rufus Scrimgeour answered from next to his prisoner, Sirius Black. "Madam Minister, Peter Pettigrew was found, the night of the Potters' death, outside their home across the street. He had succumbed to what ever it was that killed the other Death Eaters.

Sirius looked up at that. He was dead? What was that about the other Death Eaters? If they were dead, why were Lucius Malfoy and Snivellous sitting in the courtroom instead of dead with the rest? Keeping in mind that Malfoy allowed his attorneys to represent him, he put a lid on his temper and kept his mouth shut. Could it be he actually had a little self preservation after all? Sending a few days in a holding cell and fearing a trip to Azkaban would change anyone.

"This court will now call Sirius Black to the witness stand," the Minister said. "Do you have anything against taking veritaserum, Mr. Black?" Sirius conferred with the men and told them he had nothing to fear.

"Madam Minister, we would like to request the right of objection to any questions not directly related to the night of October 31, 1981." One of the attorneys interjected.

"So granted," the Minister said with a rap of the gavel.

Sirius took the stand and only answered four questions. Yes, he was Sirius Black, yes he knew the Potters. No he was not the Secret Keeper and yes Peter Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper. He then went back to his seat and waited for the verdict.

"Given the circumstances and the ensuing testimony here today, I release Sirius Black and declare him innocent of all charges." The Minister once again rapped once with the gavel. The magic in the room instantly removed the shackles he had been wearing. "We will declare the trial of Albus Dumbledore to start tomorrow. Anyone in this courtroom that has an objection please speak now."

No one would speak after the horrible testimony already heard from the Headmaster and they all agreed to reconvene at nine ante meridiem.

Moony was moving towards Sirius when Becca (still as Petunia) came forward to meet them. Becca had started to say something when Moony cut her off. "Sirius?" the dark haired man turned to his old friend. "Come on Sirius, I think explanations are way over due and it will be better if we go somewhere else."

Sirius was still in a state of shock. In the last few days his best friends died, their child was taken away, he was almost sent to Azkaban prison, Peter died and Albus was arrested. There was only so much a young man could take before his brain shut down for a rest. In his distracted state, Moony took hold of his hand and led him out of the courtroom.

The attorneys were in conference with Lucius Malfoy and the others, not wanting to intrude, left to go home. They knew Lucius would have to go home and check on Narcissa and they would most likely not see him before court tomorrow.

When they returned back to Prince Manor, baby Harry was wide awake and wanting to play. Moony took Sirius back to his place so he could take a proper bath and "get the stench of that place off him" as he had asked. Moony loaned him some clothes (now there was a twist, usually it was Sirius loaning the clothes) and then they flooed to meet the others and see the baby.

Back at Prince Manor…

While Moony and Sirius were getting reacquainted, Harry was talking to Regulus on the floo. "Reg, did you go and talk to the acromantulas yesterday?"

"Sure did Harry, why?" Regulus answered with a smirk. He wondered if Harry had seen the spiders' surprise.

"Reg, did you happen to take Evan's spider with you to visit with his family?"

"Sure did Harry, the little tyke was homesick." Regulus was trying to hold in his laughter as he said that.

"Do you happen to know if he came back with any friends?" Harry asked the younger Black suspiciously.

"Oh, right, he wanted to have some friends over for a few days. I didn't think you would mind."

"Do you happen to know why Petunia Dursley is outside screaming about freaks and a policeman was at my door asking questions?"

"Might have something to do with the party the spiders wanted to have."

When he cut off the floo and turned to go back into the living room of number three Privet Drive, he heard the uproarious laughter of the others in the room. He couldn't help but laugh himself and he sat next to Severus who was laughing so hard, tears were streaming down his face.

They looked out the window again to watch the scene. There before their eyes, not even a week after receiving 'their freaky nephew' was a spider's web. Webs, hundreds of them that appeared overnight, literally covering the whole property of number four. Webs across the lawn, on the bushes, on the windows, on the roof, on the fence, hanging from the soffits and there were actually a few small animals dead in the webs. It was like a hundred spiders converged on the one house and decided to roost there.

Every inch of ground was covered in webbing. The really strange thing was that the webbing stopped exactly at the property line. Not one centimeter was left uncovered on the Dursleys' property and not one centimeter was touched on anyone else's property. They watched as Petunia was screaming at an exterminator to do something about this.

That was where Moony and Sirius found them when they finally arrived. Sirius didn't understand what was going on, until they explained that was Petunia Dursley's house. He got very distraught thinking that she would take this out on little Harry, until they pointed to the baby in a play area sectioned with the other three children. Evan (who looked a lot like Harry), Lillian and Teddy were all playing with Harry. Second, Third, Forth and Sixth Born were all in the play area with them.

"Why are there snakes with the children? They could be dangerous!" said Sirius as he started to pull out his wand and make his way across the room.

"I don't think the children would appreciate you harming their familiars," drawled Severus from the sofa where he was sitting with Harry.

Harry spoke up then before the situation got out of hand, "Moony, I believe it would be more beneficial if you took Sirius to the war room and started explaining things. That will give you about…" he looked at his watch, "fourteen days to bring him up to speed before we have to leave for court."

Moony nodded his head and looked at Sirius, but his friend was trying to puzzle out what the young man was saying and why he looked so much like James Potter. Moony tugged at his arm and said, "Come on Sirius, this will take a great deal of explaining and we might as well get comfortable." Sirius felt like he was in a perpetual daze. Every where he turned, he was seeing and hearing things that just couldn't be happening. It was almost like he had shifted to another dimension.

Harry then went to the floo and called Regulus to come and visit with his brother. Tomorrow would be soon enough to see some of the others after they went to Albus' sentencing.

After the excitement of watching Petunia go ballistic, the topic of conversation was how to get the brand off of little Harry. They could also detect blocks on his magic, just as Albus had done in Harry's own time line. Salazar had gone to confer with the other founders' portraits to see what they might know. He missed the wonderful event above ground but Becca was just waiting to tell him.

Becca flooed Alice and Frank Longbottom, in the meantime, to let them know what happened with Albus Dumbledore in court. She didn't want them to be surprised when the Daily Prophet came out the next day.

Poor little Harry was very shy around the other children. He was still feeling disoriented from everything that had happened. Every now and then you could see his eyes tearing up again, but Lillian would give him a hug and then make Evan give him one, then they would both make Teddy give him a hug. Sometimes Second Born would wrap around his stomach and hiss at him and he would settle down.

The adults toyed with the idea of taking him to see his parents, but thought that would be even more traumatic than not having them around. They vowed to speak with Doc tomorrow after coming back from court to see what he thought about the situation.

Salazar came bursting into the room about an hour later, just as the children had finished eating and were being bathed and changed for bed. Becca and Harry left them with the nanny elves to go see what he was so excited about.

"I believe we have found a solution, but it will be risky." Salazar said.

"We are not doing anything 'risky' with little Harry," Severus said with his former 'Potions Master Severus Snape' snarl on his face. . He didn't know what Salazar was thinking, but 'risky' was definitely out.

"I agree with Severus, nothing risky." Harry backed up his husband.

"I didn't mean risky for the child, I meant risky as in it may not work." Salazar shook his head at the two overprotective father types.

"What is it you came up with?" Becca asked, glaring at the other two men in the room.

"A ritual that would send the brand and magic back where it came from, and cancel the magic used to place it there. It is almost like a contract and we are his family and can demand it be canceled because it was an illegal contract."

"What is required?" Severus asked Salazar, with some interest, now that he knew the baby would remain safe.

"That's the tricky part. We need seven souls to do the ritual. Not just any seven, they would have to be blood or bond related. They would have to be close to the baby to be able to demand that magic send it back."

"Well, we have two blood relatives right here. Will Evan and Lillian be able to do this with just their presence? How does this ritual work?" Severus asked.

He explained for the next hour what needed to be done and they were trying to determine who would be the best to complete the ritual. They would have to discuss this with the others tomorrow after going to court. It could wait a day or two now that Albus was detained.

The next morning 'The Daily Prophet' landed with a thump on the dining room table.

**ALBUS DUMBLEDORE DETAINED IN MINISTRY HOLDING CELLS**

The article went on to say that he risked the life of a child by using questionable magic to brand it with a slave brand…

Severus smiled in relief. In his timeline, this story would have Harry's name in it and would have made a big issue of the brand being a sex slave brand and what it meant. She did not reveal any of this and stuck with the real issues at hand. She also didn't mention when the trial was so they would not be mobbed this morning.

They went to the ministry a half hour before the trial and sentencing. Becca, this time, went as herself, telling others that she had to bring the baby as Petunia's own son was feeling ill.

Actually, after the hysterics of yesterday, everyone was sure Petunia was feeling ill and would not have come to a 'freak show' as she would have put it. They had to bring Harry in case the brand had to be examined again.

No one needed to hide themselves as it was an open court. The only reason the court had been closed before, was it involved a child. Now there were plenty of spectators around the room, including Minerva McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Molly Weasley, the whole Black family as well as Moony, Severus Snape and what Harry and Severus had affectionately dubbed as the Grandfathers (Silver and Black). They also saw several of the, now defunct, Order of the Phoenix members.

Rita, of course was there (in bug form on Severus' shoulder) even though no reporters were allowed. She didn't mind staying in her animagus form for another exclusive. By the time this was over, she would have enough material for the next two weeks!

As the hour of nine ante meridian was upon them, the Wizengamot filed in. Each distinguished member in their plum robes walked as if in a single file march, taking their seats. After the Wizengamot was seated, Minister Bagnold came through another door and took her place at the podium.

"This court is now in session," said one of the aides sitting next to her. She then banged her gavel once on the surface of the wood and so the trial of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore began.

Lucius and his attorneys had come in just before the Wizengamot members. They not only had the usual curiosity that everyone had, but they used the excuse that things could come up that may need to be addressed and they wanted to know first hand what was said.

Dumbledore had managed to hire a very impressive attorney (not as impressive as the Malfoy attorneys but impressive all the same) and he used every trick in the book to try to get the man off.

An expert from the Department of Mysteries examined the baby and proclaimed that, without a doubt, an unregistered form of magic was used to enslave the child. The Minister then, using a large pensieve that allowed the memory to show above so everyone in the room could see, viewed a copy of the confession of the old Headmaster from the previous day.

"I intended to have Harry raised in an environment that would allow me control of his power," said the wispy image of the old man. "He will be great someday and I know he needs much discipline and self control."

"How were you going to gain control of the young child?" this question asked by someone unnamed in the Wizengamot.

"I intended his relatives to put strict controls on him and I would start training him when he started Hogwarts," answered the image.

"Why did you place a brand on such a young child?" another member asked.

"I needed to keep track of him and later I wanted to control him by controlling who he spent his life with." Dumbledore replied.

"He is not yours to control, you were not put in charge of his well being," another member reminded him.

"That is why I had to act quickly. I wanted his power to control," the image slurred, the veritaserum obviously affecting him. He had been fighting the effects of the potion. He could trick other truth potions but this one compelled him much harder and he couldn't fight it. The harder he tried to throw it off, the faster the worked to restrain him.

"How can the mark be removed?" someone asked from behind the Minister.

"It can't. The brand is permanent. He will be tied to my family forever. If something happens to me then my brother is next in line."

Minerva McGonagall was sitting in her seat, stunned. She could not even fathom how this person on trial was the same man she had worked with for decades. It was as if she were looking at the trial of a completely different person. Her heart sunk at the implications. Harry, little Harry Potter was branded as a sex slave.

Several of the ladies in the room were sick to their stomach and left quickly. A few of the Order members that had come were turning green in the face from the revulsion they felt at what this man had done to an unprotected orphan.

Regulus, who had not been in court the day before, lost all the color in his face as he came face to face with the reality of what he had already been told. It was one thing to hear it as if in the past, and quite another to see it in front of you. His mother, who was sitting beside him, was pale and had a stoic expression on her face, but he knew his mother was just as revolted as he was.

Remus Sr. had sent a silent stunner to Sirius as he had started to get out of his seat. Sirius was beet read in the face and he just knew the young man was ready to explode. Moony who was sitting between Severus and Sirius noticed the stiffness of his friend and turned behind him to give Remus Sr. a smile of thanks. Sirius had just gotten out of the detainment cells in the bowels of the Ministry; he didn't need to go back for attacking people in front of the entire Wizengamot, even if everyone else wanted to do the same thing.

Becca was sitting in front of Moony with the baby. He was getting squirmy and looked over Becca's shoulder. It was a quiet moment at the trial and everyone heard the baby softly say, "Moo" and watched as he held his arms out. Moony took the baby in his arms and felt all eyes on him as he pulled the child into his lap so he could look out into the room. Several of the women were wiping their eyes and looking at the small one with such compassion that Moony knew little Harry would always be a soft spot in their hearts.

Several of the members of the Board of Governors for the school were at the trial. They, too, didn't look too happy with the current events. They would have to find a new Headmaster and soon. The school could not function without a figurehead.

The Wizengamot members had finished collaborating and were now ready to announce the verdict.

"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, you will stand and face me for your punishment." She watched as the old man got to his feet and stood looking her in the eye as if he thought he was going to get off. As if he was right in what he did and should be congratulated for coming up with a way to control the child.

"You sir are found guilty of unlawfully enslaving a child. You are found guilty of using unauthorized magic and you are found guilty of child endangerment. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore you are hereby remanded to the wizarding prison Azkaban for a period of two months when you will be, at the end of that time, given the dementor's kiss."

"Thus concludes our trial of Albus Dumbledore on this day, November 7, 1981 at 12:17 post meridian." The Minister announced then rapped the gavel three times. The Wizengamot then stood as one group and walked in single file through a door at the back of the room.

Everyone inside the courtroom was talking all at once. Severus, Harry, Moony and Becca spoke to the others of their group just before making a quick exit. They needed to get the baby out of there before the crowd in the room descended on them. The child was traumatized enough without everyone trying to paw all over him.

Sirius, who showed up later at Prince Manor, walked into the room with Snape and Salazar and said, "Alright, would someone tell me what is going on? I know what Moony showed me in that room of yours but you have to agree this is a little unbelievable. So who is the prankster in the group that could pull off such an elaborate scheme?"


	89. To Free a Child

Posted 20 March 2010

Chapter 89 To Free a Child

Sirius was a little confused; actually he was very much confused. He thought perhaps being in the cell at the Ministry may have addled his brains. They actually had a dementor there to keep the prisoners in check. He had been seeing the death of his friends over and over again and now Dumbledore was the bad guy, Lucius, Regulus, and Snape were the good guys and even though Sirius knew they had been Death Eaters, they didn't die with the others.

He did find out that Dumbledore had pushed for the no trial thing. That went against everything he believed about the man. Sirius was not the only one that was in the cell awaiting Azkaban without a trial either. There were others, but based on his case, he assumed the others would have a chance to clear themselves.

Alright, he understood about the time travel thing, and there being a Harry that was almost his age. He didn't understand about the, Snape or Severus or Prince whatever you wanted to call him, husband thing with two kids. That was a little harder to follow. Why would anyone want to be married to that slimy Slytherin? And then to have his two children, only a month apart? That was definably hard to comprehend.

He didn't know what to believe about Salazar Slytherin either. He thought Voldemort was his heir; that his views would be the same.

He had been sickened when he saw the sex slave mark on his little godson. In court, under veritaserum, Dumbledore had said it could not be removed, but according to these people it's been done before. Now, even that was believable, but THE SNAKES were another thing entirely. This whole family was talking to snakes like it was nothing and Moony, Regulus, Snape, even the house elves, the Lupins, EVERYONE was accepting of it. How did that happen?

Right now they were under the ground (which Sirius found kind of creepy) swimming in a pool with basilisk snakes, and as if it was no different than what anyone else would do.

When he had heard that his friends were actually alive, he wanted to go straight to them. They promised they would get him into the medical wing where the Potters were, but right now the most important thing was to free the baby from the blocks and slave bond to Dumbledore. Sirius had actually been sick twice thinking about it and was fuming mad at what that man had done. He was sure that if Remus Sr. hadn't stopped him, he would have killed the man. and the Ministry would not have had to worry about transporting him to Azkaban. They could have transported him straight to a cemetery and been done with it.

The ritual was from a book on sex magic. At first when Sirius heard that, he was livid that they wanted anything to do with that kind of magic. He found out it was a ritual from the same book that had been used on Harry, but that had been SEX! You couldn't do that to a baby! It was explained to him that sex magic was not just about sex. It was about love and bonding and the agape (_ə-__GAH__-pay_) or unconditional love for the family or loved ones. It was a Greek word to denote all consuming love. It was hoped that the 'all consuming' love of the people present for the little one would be able to break the bonds that constrained him.

"Wasn't this classified as dark magic and banned from use by the Ministry? Sirius asked the group.

"It is not dark magic, it is sex magic. Some old fools banned it because they thought the word sex made it evil. The word sex is not evil it is good magic that comes from the love deep within your soul. But in answer to your question, yes it was banned from use, and so was the magic that put that brand on the child in the first place." Salazar explained.

"I see your point." Sirius answered chagrined. It didn't make sense to not use the magic, banned or not, if it would get rid of that ridiculous label from his precious godson.

As it stood they needed one officiator for the ritual and seven family or bond members to participate. He knew he could join the group as Harry's godfather, but they didn't know about the others. It was determined that each family member and participant needed to be strong magically and so the Potter parents, even if they were awake, would not be strong enough to help.

Once the group was all together, they went to Godric's Hollow where it all began. They would use the Potter crest that was still on the basement floor in the foundations of the house. When they arrived they could see that the front door was completely off its hinges and it looked as if several people had tried to break through the wards. Evidently once the attack had happened, the house decided who could come through and judged the intent of the person.

The group made their way through the destruction and climbed down to the basement. There was a play area already sectioned off for the children and they quickly put baby Harry, Lillian and Evan down so they could set up. Because Becca was not a strong witch they thought she may need to hold Lillian during the ceremony to stabilize the magic. It was Lillian's magic after all that helped save the Potters and also was incorporated in the seal. They were hoping it would help now.

Black and Severus were not sure the ritual would work if they were part of it, but even though they were not bound to the baby, they were bound to his time traveling counterparts. They were not sure it would work, but they were going to give it a bloody good try before bringing in anyone else that was not as close. Everyone there was sickened about the sight of that mark on the child that the wizarding world thought of as their orphaned savior.

Salazar was the officiator. The seven family members and bond members were Harry and Severus, Moony and Sirius, Black and Silver, and Becca holding Lillian. The seven had come with them and were to form a circle around the group on the floor around the seal. Laying themselves clockwise head to tail. It was felt that they could add their magic to the ritual since they were very closely tied to most everyone present.

It was time to begin…

Salazar was standing north of the seal, Becca next to him at northeast, but closer to the middle. Then it was Severus at east of the seal the same distance as Salazar. Next was Harry, southeast but closer to the center like Becca. Black was south of the seal and Silver was southwest. Then it was Moony at the West point and Sirius at the northwest point of the circle.

This layout was the four at the north, south, east and west were between the seal and the runes surrounding it. The four that were northeast, southeast, southwest and northwest were in the inside of the seal forming a smaller circle than the outside members. The Seven then lined up to make the circle outside the runes. Baby Harry was placed naked in the very center of the seal with a cushioning charm around him.

When everyone was in place, Salazar started the ritual.

"We call upon the magic of the four corners of the earth, north, south, east and west. We call from the four elements of earth, fire, air and water. Hear our plea."

"Hear our plea," responded the others together.

We call upon the dark magic from the foundations of the earth and light magic from the foundations of the air, hear our plea."

"Hear our plea," the others repeated again.

"We the family of blood and chosen ask that the bonds of evil be broken from this innocent child."

"Break these bindings of evil and return it from whence it came," the others chanted.

After they had repeated this three times, there was a glow of mist coming from the center of the seal, enveloping the baby in a soft color making his skin appear golden.

They didn't stop and couldn't get distracted. They had to finish. The Potter ritual athame was brought out and each of the seven family members pricked their right index finger and placed a drop of blood on the seal. Becca had used Lillian's blood for this portion of the ceremony. Harry, who was standing next to her, numbed his daughter's little hand so she would not feel the prick of the knife.

They all chanted, "We the family of this child, reclaim him and send back the magic that stole him from us."

As the last drop of blood hit the seal, a power wave resulted like a tidal wave coming from an ocean. Everyone was drenched in the golden magic coming from the foundations of the house and they felt drunk from the swirling of it around their bodies. The baby was lifted as if on a cloud of air and turned around three times in a counter-clockwise motion. They all noticed how gently the movement was as if the magic knew it was a precious child and would not scare or harm it. The child was then turned three times in a clockwise motion and then settled back down on the floor in the middle of the seal.

The adults sat down on the floor where they had been standing, each one sitting, one after the other, as if it were choreographed to the pulse of the magic around them. After the magic receded and returned to the foundations from which it came, the adults had a few minutes of disorientation. As they started to gain back their sense of balance, the baby lying in the middle of the seal began to cry.

"Hey, there little one," Harry said softly as he picked up the child and held him against his chest. "What's all this fussing about, huh?" After he had calmed the child, he turned him around to see that his right thigh had lost the brand that had marred the smooth flesh just minutes before.

Meanwhile at the Ministry holding cells…

An old man was pacing within the bowels of the Ministry holding cells, wondering where he went wrong. All of his planning and his carefully made up excuses for his actions had gone awry. He must have missed something in the details, to have his cautiously prepared life go so wrong. Each time the dementor passed, he kept seeing the ministry trial before his eyes and hearing the verdict of "Guilty".

Suddenly there was a surge of magic that came from the floor up into the cell. It was strong and malevolent and it was consuming him. He screamed with the pain and the pressure of it, and his legs gave way where he was standing, even as he was falling and tried to catch himself before he hit the floor with a thud.

The screams were never ending and the guards came running down the hallway as the prisoners were standing at the bars of their cells, trying to find out who was being tortured to death, for only someone in the throws of the Cruciatus curse could be that tormented into screaming their throat raw with such agony.

The old man clutched at his leg as the pain seared through it and decided to lift his robes to see what had happened to his right leg.

There on his thigh was his own slave brand that he had given the boy. He was in shock and dismay as the realization hit him. Harry Potter was free and he had been branded with his own mark.

The two security guards standing in front of his cell couldn't help but see what the old man was looking at. There on his thigh was a sex slave brand. The both grinned evilly as a look of triumph gleamed in their eyes.

"Looks like someone freed the savior of the brand. I wonder if we should tell anyone about it?" asked the first guard.

"The only kind of magic that could have done this is sex magic," said the second guard. "That kind of ritual is illegal and was banned years ago. If we mention it to anyone, the people that did this may be arrested."

"It should never have happened in the first place," the first guard replied.

"I don't think I will say anything. I believe that whomever was able to undo what this scum has done, has accomplished a good thing; banned magic or not." The second guard said.

"I agree, we don't say anything. When I heard what he did and to whom, I was sickened that he had access to my children in that school. I wonder if he has done this to anyone else. Azkaban is too good for him."

The two guards walked back to their posts, leaving the old man to his plight of now being a sex slave for the rest of his very miserable short time left on this earth.

In Doc's office…

"Are the blocks on his magic gone?" asked Sirius.

Salazar reached out a hand as if trying to get a reading from the small child. "I can't tell, someone other than Harry and Severus needs to hold the child or put him back down. Their magic is interfering with the scans."

"Perhaps we should put some clothes on the child before he gets a cold." Severus said dryly as he got up and reached for the bag that they had brought for the children. He noticed Evan was sleeping in the play area as he had no one to play with. Poor little tyke missed all the excitement.

He took a nappy and an all in one out of the bag and handed them to Harry, who still had the child clutched to his chest. After the baby was dressed, he was handed to Moony before Salazar tried again to see if the blocks were off of the child.

"There must be too much magic flowing in the room; I still can't get a reading. I would say that the blocks are probably off if the mark is. The blocks were not irremovable in the first place." Salazar said in frustration.

The baby was still cradled in Moony's arms when they heard him say "Foo" and watched him hold out his arms and pat his little hand on the man's chest.

"That's right Harry," the man said to his godson as he pulled the baby to him, "Uncle Padfoot." Sirius had a big grin across his face. That was the first time the baby had tried to say the name since he and his parents were attacked.

"Foo" the baby said again "Mama?"

"That's right little prongs, we are going to see your Mama in just a few minutes." The dog animagus then looked at Harry and the others. "We have to take him to see them. It's not right to keep them apart."

They all agreed and as they had said to Padfoot earlier, they would take him to see the Potters as soon as the brand was removed from the baby.

"Come on everyone, we should go and see the Potters. Doc can take a look at little Harry and see that he is alright after the ritual and if the blocks to his magic were removed." Severus said to the others in the room. They put the snakes back in their traveling cage, picked up Evan, who was still asleep, and everyone, snakes included, went to the medical center to see how the Potters were doing.

When they arrived at the medical center, the first thing Doc did was check out the Potter baby and proclaimed him healthy and block free. He was suffering no ill effects from the ritual and, indeed, he was not bound as a sex slave anymore and his magic was quite powerful and free flowing.

When they went into the room that housed the Potters, it was almost as if they were just asleep. They lay so still and unmoving though that Sirius felt a shiver crawl up his spine as he held little prongs and watched them.

"Mama," the little one cried when he saw his mother, "Da" he then said as he reached out for his parents. Sirius laid the baby down on the bed next to his mother. He watched as little prongs patted his mother on her face and said "Mama, ite? Mama ite?"

Sirius turned to Becca who had come into the room with him and asked in a whisper so as not to disturb the reunion, "What is he saying?"

"I think he is asking if his mother is alright. You spend enough time with the other two and you will get a feel for the half words that they use." Becca said as she looked at the scene in front of her. When she turned back to Sirius, the unshed tears for the family were evident in his grey eyes. They could see the baby was getting distressed as his mother wouldn't wake up.

"Shush, little prongs. Your Mama is sleeping." Sirius said as he sat next to his godson. He tried to comfort the child again, "Mama sleeping."

"Mama eep?" the baby repeated.

"Yes, Little Harry, your Mama is asleep."

The child then put his hand on his mother's chest and lay his head down as if going to sleep himself. He listened to her steady heartbeat for a few minutes then looked at his godfather. "Mama eep," he repeated and then he crawled into his Uncle Padfoot's lap.

Becca, who could see how hard this was for the two of them suggested, "Perhaps we should be heading home. Little Harry has been through quite a bit today and we could all use some rest."

Padfoot nodded and followed the woman out of the room while he held the baby close to his chest. When they caught up with the others in Doc's office, they spoke for a few minutes on the condition of the Potters and finally returned home.

Back at Prince Manor…

The elves were appalled; there was a woman in front of the Dursley home that didn't belong in the neighborhood. She didn't even belong among muggles. In her arms she was carrying a baby who was dressed in some hand me down green baby robes and she was knocking at the door of number four Privet Drive.

They couldn't call their masters because they were doing a very important ritual, so they called Remus Sr. instead. He hadn't gone because they had enough people to perform the ritual and he had some things to do with Buddy in the muggle yards. They expected them back at any time now.

"What is she doing in this area?" the older man asked to no one in particular. "I know that the ministry restrained her away from the family of baby Harry."

Sentry Dobby was at his post in the security room where he had asked Remus Sr. to come and witness what was going on. As soon as he had seen the woman come up the walk, he knew exactly who it was and why she was there. The Prince family trusted him completely and had told him about the trial and what they were doing today. They wanted everything to stay safe while they were trying to free the baby.

"Mister Remus, sir, Sentry Dobby does not know why that woman is there. But I don't think it can be good," the little elf said to his master's friend.

"No Dobby, this is not good. Can you turn up the volume on the muggle equipment so we can hear what is being said?"

The elf nodded and turned up the sound so they could hear what the woman said to Petunia Dursley.

The security room was full of muggle recording devices. If anything happened in that house the Dursley family called a home, they would know about it. Most of it was just normal everyday interactions, but sometimes there was some juicy bit of news or a little gossip that they found amusing. Today, however, it was distressing to see that particular person walking into their neighborhood.

Just then there was a bell that sounded announcing the arrival of the Prince family, and the others, back to the manor. Remus Sr. quickly floo called the receiving room where they had arrived.

"I think you guys need to come to the security room right away. You will want to know about this."

It took two minutes for the others to arrive, just as the two women in the Dursley house were sitting down to tea.

"What is she doing there?" Harry all but screamed at the others.


	90. The Third Time Charm

Posted 21 March 2010

Chapter 90 The Third Time Charm

"Bloody hell," Silver exclaimed after he saw who Harry saw.

"This can't be good," Severus was heard saying at the same time Black said,

"How did she get into the wards?"

"Why is she here?" Sirius asked.

"Hey, guys, if you tone it down we could hear what women are saying." Remus Sr. interrupted the group.

"…so I was determined to come and talk with you about your nephew," the woman said.

"Are you one of those Freaks?" Petunia asked sternly.

"I beg you pardon? What do you mean by 'those freaks'?" the woman asked in an indignant tone.

"You know, like the kind my sister was." Petunia said.

"We are not freaks!" the resentful tone grated like fingernails on a chalkboard. "I have come to ask about your nephew. My Ginny would be the perfect wife for him and as his guardians you need to sign these papers. It was promised to us by his magical guardian and we were not able to get them signed before the trial." The red headed woman continued.

"What trial?" Petunia asked.

Mrs. Weasley assumed that the woman had been obliviated when she didn't know about the trial. She knew that they tried to keep the magical world hidden and couldn't blame them, but Petunia was raising a magical child so it didn't make sense. Perhaps they had wanted to keep hidden all that talk about branding and slave ownership. It wouldn't matter. Dumbledore was going to be kissed and had no need of a sex slave.

"In our world, it is quite common for the children to be entered into a marriage contract. I have one here and as Harry Potter's guardian, you can take care of this for him," the woman pushed for Petunia's signature.

"What does that mean for us?" Petunia asked.

"It means that the baby can come and stay with us and that you could give custody of him to us and we would raise him to the proper station in our world." Molly Weasley lied. She wanted her hands on the child's money.

"What do I get in return?" Petunia was also a selfish bitch and thought that she should get something for taking the child in.

"If you will sign the paper, we could possibly access his inheritance. Some of it would have to go to raising my daughter to be Lady Potter, but I am sure you could get a substantial sum." Molly evidently forgot some of what was said at the trial, or ignored it, because the baby's accounts were sealed. The occupants in the security room wondered what she was up to.

"What inheritance?" Petunia wanted to know.

"Why, the money at the wizarding bank, the money that Harry inherited when his parents died."

The occupants of the security room groaned. They didn't want Petunia knowing about that.

"I will have to talk to my husband and see what he says about this. He will be here soon and you need to leave now." Petunia tried to get rid of the woman.

"Of course, I should have known that you would want to do that." Molly Weasley said as she stood up, balancing her daughter in her arms. I will return in one week to have your answer. My daughter will be a very good wife for any wizard and Harry would do much worse if he doesn't contract for a wife in the next few years."

"What a load of crap," Harry said as he was watching this exchange.

"I agree with you Harry. It's not like they didn't cause enough trouble in our time lines, now she has to start trouble here. Ginny isn't even a year old and already a pain in the arse," Silver said in agreement to Harry's statement.

"I think I am going to call Lucius." Severus commented. Not that anyone was paying attention as they watched Molly leave number four Privet Drive.

When they were sure the woman left, Harry turned to Sentry Dobby and said, "Thanks for keeping a good eye out. I want you to call me the minute you see or hear anything else coming from that house. This is top priority for now. You can assign extra elves to watch so we have twenty-four hour surveillance. "

"Yes, Master Harry Prince, sir. Sentry Dobby will keep a good watch on what is happening in that house," the elf replied.

Harry shook his head in amusement. The elf had started calling him Master Harry Prince when little Harry Potter showed up and he wanted to keep the two Harrys straight in his mind.

When Harry arrived downstairs after Severus, the room was once again full of people. Lucius was there as was one of the attorneys; Snape was there as was everyone that had attended in the ritual to free the Potter baby.

"What's going on guys?" Harry asked as he was the last one to enter the room.

"Harry," Severus started to speak but stopped to find a way to ease his way into the explanation, he was interrupted by Silver however, when he didn't continue right away.

"Petunia has legal custody of Harry, if she signs papers, it could be legal and someone else could claim the baby if they can find him. It won't be a problem for now, but it would be later when he enters school."

The attorney spoke up, "I have an idea, although if you tell anyone you heard it from me I will deny all knowledge of the situation." When the attorney smirked, Harry couldn't remember his name, he thought 'Oh, this guy has to be a Slytherin. No one smirks better than a Slytherin. He thought they must have a required class for all Slytherins on how to smirk properly.

"Have Snape acquire the baby from the Dursleys. He is the magical guardian for now. He can give custody back to the Potters when they wake up." No one in the room wanted to add 'if they wake up' so didn't correct him.

"Petunia is going to want money, and I don't want to give her any." Harry stated quite severely. He hated that woman.

"Harry, love?" Severus interrupted his rant. "You are not thinking like a Slytherin."

"Oh," Harry said, embarrassed that Severus had to remind him, "I guess we just trick them into thinking there is money when there really isn't."

All the Slytherins in the room nodded, including the attorney. "Now" said the attorney, "we just have to take care of Molly Weasley."

Becca entered the conversation, "I don't want anything to happen to her. She may be a nasty piece of work, but her oldest five are really good people. Bill and Charley will never do anything to Harry and Percy just goes his own way in the Ministry. The twins and Harry will get along famously. It was only the last two that were a real pain in the…, well anyway you get the idea. We just need to get her to back off."

"How did she get within the wards anyway?" Silver asked.

"We didn't do the Fidelius Charm we only did the wards. She evidently didn't wish harm to Harry Potter, only control for her daughter. I don't know exactly how the wards were fooled, but we will fix the problem. Knowing how determined she can be, she probably kept watch for Petunia and followed her here. She couldn't have followed one of us, because we always portkey in." Becca answered.

"Who watches her kids while she is out playing detective?" Snape asked.

"Good question, we should find out." Severus answered.

"It is probably her brothers, they were sent to Between Manor. I can't believe they would be a part of this though." The black phoenix animagus answered.

"They most likely are not a part of this, they just know their sister needs them to watch the kids while she does some shopping or runs errands."

"This is an easy fix," the attorney said. "All we have to do is record her coming to the Dursley house and have the aurors enforce the Minister's ruling that she stay away from the Potter family. Obviously they didn't put the magical restraints on her after her emotional outburst at the trial. But in defense of the aurors, they were rather busy with other matters."

"What will enforcing the restraint do?" Becca wanted to know.

"If she gets near the wards again, a magic restraint will send her back home, and rebound her off the wards," the attorney answered her.

They spoke for another hour; going over different options until they came up with one they thought would be perfect. Just as they were finishing, Sentry Dobby came into the room and told everyone they would want to come back to the security room.

There on the screen was Vernon Dursley and his wife talking about the conversation Petunia had with 'one of those freaks'.

The only indication that the attorney was in shock was the raised eyebrow. Lucius, who had already been informed of the character of these people didn't show any expression, but had to be surprised too. One just had to see it to believe it.

Vernon was talking to his wife. "I wonder how much money we can get for the kid. If he is that important to everyone, we should be able to get enough to retire on if we talk to the right people."

"I don't know Vernon; I don't want to get these people angry at us. They could do things to us we don't even know about."

"Don't be silly Petunia, they won't come after us. We are superior people." Someone in the room snorted at the man's audacity.

"My sister used to tell me some of the strangest things about what they could do."

"Petunia, forget about it. She's dead and we have her son. Where is the freak anyway?"

"I locked him in the cupboard under the stairs, just as you told me to."

"Well, I guess you should feed him and give him a bath. I will take off tomorrow and see what I can find out about the freak. Maybe we can get rid of him soon, so he won't cost us any more money."

The couple then went into other topics of conversation that did not interest the people in the security room.

Becca's face had a strange look on it, as if she was plotting something big. "Sentry Dobby, I want you to activate the mini floo at the Weasley house."

"It's already done, Mistress Becca. Sentry Dobby did that as soon as the Molly lady left earlier today."

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked the woman.

"You don't really thing I installed a mini floo in their house and didn't bug it did you?" Becca smirked. "I was raised by a Slytherin," meaning her Great-grandfather.

"Bug it?" the attorney inquired.

"Muggle expression. Means I can listen in on everything going on in the house, just as if I were an insect on the wall. Muggle devices are hard to secure in a totally magical house, but we have ways of making them work with magic. We will know everything that is going on. Thank Merlin their contract for the mini floo was over only a year after it was installed. At least we don't have to pay them any more money. They didn't manage it very well if they are in need of more and so desperate to get it."

"Lucius, you were correct my friend, these people are most interesting," the attorney said to his client. "Yes, most interesting indeed."

Operation Petunia and Molly was underway.

Snape followed Vernon the next day using a concealment charm as the fat muggle had said he was going to find out about Harry. He finally cornered him in a muggle bar, and started talking to him. 'Really' he thought, 'what did the idiot think he was going to find out in a muggle anything?'

He posed as a child trafficker and told Vernon how much he would pay for any child he could put his hands on. It was double if the child was under two. They arranged to meet the next day with the Potter baby.

In the meantime, the surveillance on the Weasley house was going well. Most of it was just conversations with the children and her husband, but one such conversation was with a Knockturn Alley attorney that was surely up to no good and provided her with an illegal Marriage Contract that would be more binding than the one she had. It listed her daughter as the beneficiary of all Potter holdings if the child should die before fulfilling the marriage.

The next day, Vernon brought the golem 'Harry' to Snape and he in exchange gave the man an overnight bag full of gold coins. Vernon thought he was richer than anyone in the world with so much gold. Snape got him to sign custody papers and told the man not to spend the gold until a week had passed by so no one would know where he got it from. Vernon agreed, knowing that child slavery was illegal and not wanting people to ask him about the money.

It was five days later when Molly Weasley arrived on the Dursley doorstep with her contract in hand. Petunia Dursley was upstairs asleep after being fed a sleeping draft from… (you guessed it, Becca polyjuiced as Petunia again). When they went into the sitting room, tea and biscuits were already waiting for them.

Salazar was under an invisibility charm in the same room. He was watching things closely in case Becca needed help. He saw the contract that Molly had brought and while Becca had her distracted with the tea and cakes, he switched the contract with one of their own. Everything was set.

'Petunia' and Molly had a nice little five minute chat and then Molly pushed to get the contract signed saying that she needed to get back to her children at home. Molly and Becca signed it and Molly was on her way.

"When do you think she is going to notice that the contract is not the one she brought?" Salazar asked his soon to be wife.

"When she finds out she is not getting any money and in fact has to pay to raise Harry as a Lord."

"Then I expect she should be reading it in about ten minutes." Salazar speculated.

"No, the kids might keep her busy when she gets home; I say she will read it tonight after they go to bed." Becca said.

"How much do you want to bet?" Salazar asked with a smirk.

"A night of changing diapers for you and if I lose what do you want?"

"I want to get married a month early." Salazar answered.

"Really? That's a lot of work to finish in a few weeks."

"I am sure you are up to the challenge."

Becca was more than happy to accept the bet and almost wanted to lose just so she could start her married life with the man in front of her.

Later that evening…

They were all sitting in the security room watching the screens that monitored the Dursleys and Weasleys. This was better than a muggle soap opera. Watching the lives of these people and waiting for something to happen.

"Petunia!" Vernon shouted when he walked in the door. Today was the day he could start spending some of his gold from the sale of the Potter freak. He was coming home from work and could not wait until tomorrow when he could quit.

"Yes, Vernon dear, supper will be ready in a few minutes," the woman said as she came from the kitchen.

"I'll be upstairs washing up," the whale of a man said before he almost skipped up the stairs (if you could call the funny way he moved his hulking form skipping) to look at his money.

He pulled out the bag from its hiding place and thought about all the lovely things they could do with the money. He opened the top of the bag and ran his hands through the coins. It was almost an orgasmic pleasure, knowing all that gold was his. He stopped short when he realized it didn't feel right.

"PETUNIA!" yelled the man from his sitting place at the desk. "What have you done?"

Petunia, who didn't know what was going on, came running up the stairs and into the smallest bedroom in the house where her husband was yelling from.

"Wooden slugs, what happened to all my gold? I have wooden slugs in the place of it. What did you do with my money?" the man shouted and screamed. The people in the security room were sure the neighbors could hear him from down the street.

Petunia's dinner was cold by the time they went downstairs. Vernon was crying and inconsolable because he lost all his money and didn't even have his nephew to sell to someone else.

At the Weasley household…

Nothing happened when Molly got home. The kids kept her busy until their father arrived from work, and then they all sat down for supper.

It wasn't until later that night that Molly opened the roll of parchment that was the contract for marriage between Harry and Ginny. Even if she couldn't access his funds right away, her daughter would be Lady Potter and she would be respected and rich beyond their dreams.

Clause one of the contract stated that the contract could be cancelled at any time by the magical guardian of Harry Potter.

"That's not right" Molly muttered to herself.

"What did you say dear?" Arthur asked from the chair where he was reading that day's Daily Prophet.

"Nothing, just reading something, dear."

Clause two of the contract demanded the sum of one hundred galleons per month to raise the Potter child in the ways of a Lord.

Clause three, if the Potter magical guardian cancels the contract, no monies will be refunded that have already been paid.

Clause four, Harry Potter's funds, properties and heirlooms would remain his even if the marriage was cancelled.

Clause five, If Ginny Weasley was unfaithful to him she would automatically lose all rights and privileges to their children and Potter funds and properties.

Clause six, Harry Potter had the right to acquire any Mistresses or Consorts he wished during the duration of his life.

Clause seven, If Harry Potter died, no monies would go to the Weasley family.

And the contract kept on through twenty seven different clauses, stating that Ginny got nothing, the Weasley family received nothing and the contract could be cancelled at any time by Harry but was complete binding to the Weasley family until the Potter guardian cancelled first. She had just sold her daughter and had to pay for it. They would receive nothing. This contract was the complete opposite as the one she had taken to Petunia Dursley.

They were sure the screeching could be heard a mile from the Burrow. It took Arthur at least half an hour to find out what was going on. He was not happy with his wife.

The next day the attorney had filed an injunction to keep Molly and Arthur Weasley away from the Potter guardians and Harry Potter himself. It was served to Arthur Weasley in his Ministry office by a very loud and obnoxious auror who did not hesitate to shout why the document was being served.

Also that day, Petunia Dursley woke up and went to her front door to get the morning paper only to find out her yard, once again, was covered in spider webs. The yard, the windows, the door, the roof, all of her flowers and plants, all covered in the sticky webbing that had filled her yard like last time. This time she couldn't even blame it on the freak as he wasn't there.

It was a week and a half later on November 25, 1981, when Becca and Salazar had finally completed their nuptials. The ceremony was very much like Harry and Severus' without the strange power surge that knocked everyone over.

It was during the reception that Sirius, his mother (they had reconciled this past week) and some of the attorneys, (now on the Prince payroll as well) were speculating the ramifications of everything they had learned about the situation. More and more people were being pulled into the secret of the Time Spirits, Salazar Slytherin and one small boy named Harry Potter.

"What about his parents?" Walburga asked. She hadn't seen Becca for a few days but had helped with the wedding when she could.

"They are very slowly getting stronger. Doc found out he could do the same spell with their cores that he did with the Malfoy twins. The only problem is they can only give them on small speck of fairy dust per week to strengthen their magic. It will take at least a year at this point for their magic to return, but they should be awake in another month or so." Becca answered. Everyone had been very supportive of little Harry Potter and his plight.

"Why," one of the attorneys asked. "Why would you give up your life, travel through decades and centuries of time for one small boy? Invoking a spell as tremendous as The Third Time Charm that has never been used and without any instruction. You could have been killed."

"Let me answer your question with another question." Becca said to the attorney as her new husband was sitting next to her and watching her every expression. "What would you do for a child that was prophesied to change the wizarding world back to its former glory? A child that would return our world back to the old pureblood ways, and would have the power to influence the good kind of change? A child that was terribly mistreated and left with people that hated him and yet he still loved this world so much he would give his life for it? What would you do for a child that could save our world and make it stronger than ever before?"

Everyone at the table turned their head to see what the attorney would answer.

But the attorney gave Becca a hard stare and then smiled one of those smiles that light up a face. "I guess I would invoke The Third Time Charm, build an army, start a business and train him up so that he could succeed at his prophesied mission in life."

"There is a muggle expression that goes something like this, 'It only takes two people to make a child and a whole village to raise it'."

A/N Thus concludes The Third Time Charm. This story was about what you could do to save Harry and help him to survive without the pain and suffering he went through. I hope you have enjoyed it. The sequel will start in about two weeks and is called 'Growing Up Royal: After TTTC. I will notify as many of you as I can, so if you would like an email you may send a request to my author name at and I will make sure you get a notice.

Thank you all for the reviews, ratings, the story, author, and favorites alerts and most of all, thanks for reading.


	91. Author's Note

My new story, Growing Up Royal: After The Third Time Charm (TTTC) is now up. I want to thank all of you who read my last story and I hope you enjoy this one just as much. It is still in the same category but may change later.


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